Dear Editor,
The PPP government has taken umbrage to my reference to its failure to address the situation of poverty facing the people of Guyana. My comments have drawn an animated response from the President and induced palpitations among members of the government. The response of the PPP tells me that it does not feel it has a responsibility to reduce or eliminate poverty within the Guyanese society. Instead, it attempts to contextualize the observation of the IADB revealing its obstinacy to serve and improve the lives of all Guyanese.
Despite its ostrich-like posture, the conditions that precipitate the need for action exist. The dominance of the oil and gas industry has brought a redistribution of income that has caused the economic conditions of households already in poverty to worsen. Based on data that we have, income inequality rose from 43 in 2019 to 48 in 2024. As income inequality was rising, so was the cost of living, which imposed severe strain on families and made the situation of malnutrition precarious.
The allegation against the government during the debate of failing to arrest poverty is based on the phenomenal price increases, particularly in the areas of food and housing that have taken place since it came back into office. I must remind the government that the retail price of fruits rose by 145 percent from 2019 to 2024. The price of plantains rose by 106 percent while that of vegetables rose by 105 during the same period. On top of those price increases, the price of eggs went up by 63 percent while the price of meat went up by an average of 57 percent. Compared to 2021, the PPP/C government itself informed us that the price of houses for young professionals had risen by 84 percent by 2023.
Here is the point that the PPP must concern itself with and not try to shirk its responsibility. Poverty shows up in the health condition of our children, and it is the reason we try to measure and monitor their progress. The data on the nutritional status of our children presented by this government in the 2026 budget tells the story and exposes the inadequacy of its response to the poverty crisis in Guyana. The percentage of children who were severely malnourished in 2017 was 0.9. By 2019, it had fallen to 0.2. One would have expected that the situation facing children in a wealthy country would have stabilized or even improved. That was not the case.
In 2021, the percentage of severely malnourished children climbed back up to 0.4 and remained at 0.5 since 2023. Even in the case of moderately malnourished children, evidence of inattentiveness to this situation is obvious. In 2019, the percentage of moderately malnourished children stood at 1. By 2025, it had risen to 1.5, ending that year worse than it was in 2024.
My readings made me aware that one-third of women of childbearing age in Guyana were anemic and that 15 percent of the children born to anemic mothers in Guyana had low birth weights. Such children are often unable to rise to their full potential. When this failure manifests itself in undesirable and inappropriate adolescent and adult behaviours, derogatory labels like “scrapes” and “dunce thugs” are attached to the unfortunate children to belittle and ostracize them. The failure of the PPP to fix this problem is evident also in the data. The low birth weight of our children was trending downwards in 2019 while there are signs from the data provided in the budget that it had begun to worsen in 2025. Their claim that “We Care” rings hollow.
On another front, I must draw attention to an outcome that challenges the integrity and management of our healthcare system. The PPP has been spending lots of our oil money on hospitals. They convey the impression that the investment in hospital beds is impressive. But it should be noted that the average number of hospital beds per 10,000 population was 29.32 from 2021 to 2025. However, the PPP does not seem to appreciate that there is an urgency to this matter considering the growth in the population. I make this point because from 1992 to 1996, a period after the PPP took over from the PNC, the number of hospital beds was 32.68 per 10,000 population. It is clear that, even with all the oil money and supposed expertise, the number of hospital beds lag behind the years 1992 to 1996.