The Sea and River Defense allocation in the 2021 Budget is insufficient
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – In a KN Budget Day Report on February 12, the Minister with responsibility for Finance (MoF) unveiled his 2021 Year Ever $ 383.1B Budget presentation with a rare $ 5.1B (1.33% of Budget) allocation to strengthen Guyana Capacity sea and river protection.
Most of Guyana’s population and economic activities are located along the coastline and the upper reaches of the river banks. Therefore, the MoF cannot release rapid economic growth as it claimed without providing a safe environment that will require adequate investment in the infrastructures necessary to protect lives and property from cyclical flooding caused by rising sea levels and sea and river defense which diminishes. .
Much of Guyana’s sea and river defense requires significant investment to upgrade and / or replace in order to withstand the increasing erosive and dynamic impact forces that cause fracture and overtopping. The recent cuts with associated floods in Dantzig, Anna Catherina, Essequibo Coast and elsewhere are just a prelude to what to expect if no concerted upgrade is undertaken, to protect the low lying coastal and riverine areas from flooding and consequent loss of lives and property.
The $ 5.1B Budget allocation for the protection of the Sea and the River is only a ‘drop in the ocean’ and is unlikely to provide the urgently needed protection to those who live along critical sections of the coast and riverine areas flooded. Therefore, it is clear that the Government’s priorities are newly elected. it needs to be reviewed, to enable the allocation of its resources to those parts of the economy that are so important where the infrastructures needed to facilitate rapid economic growth and development were the eloquently spoken by the MoF in its presentation of 2021 Year Budget.
Truly,
Charles Sohan