HGP Nightly News – In a detailed critique delivered during the parliamentary budget debate, We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) Member of Parliament Natasha Singh argued that the government’s $1.558 trillion Budget 2026 fundamentally fails to address the urgent needs of Guyana’s most vulnerable populations, exposing significant gaps in the social safety net.
MP Singh, who serves as her party’s Shadow Minister for Human Services and Social Security, charged the administration with a disconnect between its rhetoric of compassion and the substantive content of its fiscal plan. She contended that the budget’s moral language is contradicted by both parliamentary conduct and the inadequacy of its social provisions.
“You cannot speak of empathy and respect while simultaneously engaging in personal abuse in this House,” Singh stated, referencing exchanges during the debate and asserting that true civility must be demonstrated through action and policy. Central to her critique was an analysis of social services.
Citing official statistics indicating approximately 58 percent of the population remains in poverty and nearly 8,000 reported cases of child abuse over a recent two-year period, Singh characterized the budget’s response as insufficient. She specifically challenged the increase in old-age pensions, calculating the $5,000 annual rise equates to roughly $160 per day, an amount she argued is inadequate for basic subsistence in a burgeoning oil economy.
The MP further alleged systemic mismanagement within the sector, pointing to commissioned but non-operational childcare facilities and high turnover of technical staff as evidence of poor implementation. She called for strengthened oversight, including audits of the Child Protection Agency, greater transparency in welfare administration, and the expansion of mental health support within public services.
Singh framed the budget as a missed opportunity to substantively address poverty and social protection. Despite its record financial scale, she asserted it fails the test of its own “Putting People First” theme and, on that basis, declared she could not offer it her support.
