Coalition Member of Parliament (MP), Amanza Walton-Desir says that no gratitude was expressed to Finance Ministry staff by the Senior Minister responsible for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, subsequent to his presentation of a $383.1B National Budget over a week ago. She told the House that this is “indicative of the contempt” in which she claims, the administration treats public servants.
“It was disconcerting that not a ‘Note of Thank You’ was expressed by the Honourable Minister to the men and women who would have toiled endlessly at the Ministry of Finance to present the budget. Nowhere in the speech, Sir, could I find a ‘Note of Thanks’. I might have missed it, but I could not find it in the budget speech. I believe this is indicative of the contempt in which this administration treats, the contempt in which they regard public servants,” she said.
However, the Minister in his budget presentation, did express thanks to ministry staff and those at other ministries and agencies. Walton-Desir, like the rest of her Coalition colleagues were not in the House during the presentation of the budget.
Dr Singh, before concluding his presentation on Budget Day, told the House: “Mr Speaker, before I close, permit me only to acknowledge the tremendous efforts made by all of my colleagues in the Cabinet and their respective staff, who exerted tremendous effort in preparing their respective budget submissions, and yes, I think a round of applause is eminently deserving. Permit me to also acknowledge the contributions and submissions made by so many stakeholders throughout the length and breadth of Guyana…And Finally, Mr Speaker, I trust I may be forgiven for saving the last word for my own team at the Ministry of Finance…I thank them for the energy they exerted for preparing this budget. It wasn’t easy, as you can imagine. They invested tremendous, long hours, and I trust that all of the members of this House would agree, that they did a phenomenal job.”
