People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament Sanjeev Datadin on Thursday pushed back against opposition claims about poverty levels in Guyana, arguing that the figures being cited are based on data from a period marked by large-scale job losses.
“The honorable minister, Mr. Indar, pointed out that the members Vinceroy Jordan, Sharma Solomon, the honorable members, and even Terrence Campbell, were professing that there was a 58% rate of poverty. Now, it’s strange. When you fire 2,500 CSOs, when you send home 7,000 sugar workers, that creates poverty. And those numbers are 2016 to 2019. If you look at the report which you referred to, if you look at the 10 findings about poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, at page 44. So at page 44, Mr. Speaker, it says, what are the records that are used? And it says 2016 to 2018,” Datadin declared.
He also referenced Guyana’s movement on the Human Development Index (HDI), arguing that broader indicators show improvement in recent years.
“A useful thing that you might want to do, you might want to look at something called a Human Development Index,” he said, explaining that it measures income, education, health and living standards.
“In 2020, we were 135… in 2023, we were 89. We rose all of that,” he added.
The government MP further dismissed criticisms about infrastructure and development, maintaining that conditions in the country have improved.
“You complain, you complain about the roads, then don’t drive on them. You don’t like the bridges, stay, don’t cross them,” Datadin said. “But if you don’t think that Guyana is a better place, that our economy is better, that our people are better, then you are not living in this country or you are stifling your conscience.”
