Ministers must defend their policies – Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo made it clear that the ministers of the government must defend their policies.
Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat
He was at the time addressing the media at his weekly press conference last Thursday at the Freedom House on Robb Street. This publication asked the VP what would be the next move for reporters when ministers refuse to give them answers to probing questions. Jagdeo stated that ministers must be, “out there for the people who are listening to defend their policies and to speak about their policies.”
The VP said that “I assume that we want to be available to everyone and we have nothing to fear about our policies. We believe that if you cannot defend the policies, then you shouldn’t be implementing them.” In this sense, every policy that is approved by the government and is being implemented must meet two objectives. Jagdeo explained that is “it must pass the test of creating more goods and services to our people and secondly, the policy must be sustainable. So, you are never gonna get us to go down the path of implementing something that is not sustainable in the long run for convenience. The opposition will do that, but we don’t deal with it just for convenience, sometimes it’s even contentious.”
He admitted that while taking the long-term approach to policies would not bring immediate benefits, they facilitate numerous sustained benefits for the future and “that is a key point of this government. Some people don’t like that, they don’t like strong governments.” Last year, the VP had said that he has no objection to Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat hosting independent press briefings on the daily management of the sector. However, Bharrat has only held one press conference for the four years he has been in office. This, even, at a time when civil society groups and the political Opposition have continuously underscored the need for transparency and accountability to be the hallmarks of the multi-billion-dollar oil and gas sector.
Guyana, which boasts one of the fastest-growing economies globally, owes much of its recent prosperity to the boom in oil within the massive Stabroek Block operated by an ExxonMobil-led consortium. With this newfound wealth comes a responsibility to keep citizens informed and involved. Minister Bharrat’s press conference is therefore not just expected. Industry stakeholders say it is imperative to ensure citizens are informed about the government’s handling of key critical issues.
