Dear Editor,
I welcome the engagement by Hemdutt Kumar on the matter of the Orange Economy (OE). Allow me to first deal with an overarching generalisation by Mr Kumar before I proceed to the concerns about the OE.
According to Kumar, “As it [the OE] is in its conceptual stage, I think it would be prudent to add some valuable insights that would see us moving away from the current disconnected, piecemeal and usual ad hoc manner of implementing new policy agendas, instead pursuing such lofty goals in a more holistic, constructive and meaningful way.”
This is an uncalled-for criticism because the record of successive PPP/C Administrations has proven otherwise. The PPP produced a massive, multi-volume National Development Strategy in the late 1990s. In 2009, the LCDS was fully articulated. The latter itself was revised in the form of the LCDS 2030. There is a track record of moving from ideas to policies and policies to outcomes.
Now, on the Orange Economy – Kumar worries that there might be insufficient consultation with the public. Two points are in order here.
Firstly, the Region Six outreach was exactly what Kumar says does not exist, namely, consultation with villagers, civic groups, and issue/sector-orientated constituents. The entire PPP/C cabinet, plus PPP MPs and Presidential Advisers, were engaged in the process. For instance, Minister Ramson and I had extensive consultations at Line Path, Skeldon. The same happened at Lochaber (Canje West), where Minister Waldron and I engaged over 60 persons from that area.
Secondly, I don’t think it has yet occurred to Kumar that he is doing exactly what public participation looks like, namely, engaging the idea of the Orange Economy in the media.
White papers are the outcomes of an iterative process. You just do not get a few experts and send them off to come back with a document devoid of debate and input from the public. The Ali administration is engaged in this process in multiple ways, the Region Six outreach being clear evidence for my claim.
Finally, Kumar should know that Guyana has extensive experience with ideas-based value (IBV) creation. The LCDS, which is a quintessential IBV economic strategy, has earned this country close to US$ 1 billion to date. The task at hand now is to build out the tangible and intangible infrastructure. This is well on the way and will be reflected in the next budget.