ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):
OPPOSITION LEADER Robin Yearwood has dismissed the measures outlined in the 2005-2006 national budget saying it should have titled "killing growth and development for the people of Antigua and Barbuda".
Responding to the EC$580.5 million (US$212.9 million) budget presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Dr Errol Cort last Wednesday, Yearwood said that the budget was nothing more than an attempt to cover the failures of the Baldwin Spencer administration.
"This budget has no vision so we the people are perishing. There's no analysis. No data. This is the reason we were allowed such a short time (to prepare).
What's in it for the people? Where are the jobs? Where is their future?"
Yearwood said that before leaving office nearly 20 months ago, the Lester Bird administration had been predicting economic growth of three per cent and cautioned the government about the economic fortunes of the country.
"The government churned up the numbers to show five per cent growth but where is the data to support that."
Yearwood said the government's plans to collect EC$582 million (US$215.5 million) in revenue were unrealistic. "We can't pick up that amount of revenue."
Another issue of concern for Yearwood was the debt write-off negotiated between the government and Italy for a loan to construct the Royal Antiguan hotel, which has been re-named the Grand Royal Antiguan after it was sold to a Trinidadian investor.
Yearwood said the details of the agreement should be made public.
"We have a right to know. We want to know how the Italian loan was written off. We need to know the repayment schedule."
Cort said then because of the agreement signed he could not reveal the deals but a portion of the loan was forgiven and the remainder was paid in instalments.
Yearwood said while the ALP had been criticised for allowing the loan to become delinquent, the construction of the hotel had created growth in the economy.
"This was the foresightedness of the ALP government had," he said.
Yearwood also accused the government following the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and said the examples of IMF-backed programmes in Haiti and Dominica should teach the government a lesson.
"We are under an IMF programme. I've no proof but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You notice all the IMF technicians who are coming around with their pencils," Yearwood said.
"It is a government you are running not a corporation," Yearwood said while referring to the most recent IMF report on the Antiguan economy.
He said the government had been not provided a true picture of the island's deficit, noting that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank report had indicated that the deficit was EC$21 million (US$7.7 million) by the middle of the year.
The Opposition Leader said the government's decision to offer voluntary separation to public sector employees would contract the economy, a contrast to the policy of the ALP.
"ALP kept the economy buoyant. We have no regret for employing our workers because when you are not working you still have to eat. Education has to go on," he said pointing to a group of students attending the budget debate.
He said the cost of living had increased by 10 per cent, which has forced homeowners to default on their loan payment causing the banks to embark on foreclosures.
"People are losing their properties. Every week as a representative of the people I've to be calling the banks," he added.
