By Sase Singh IntroductionHoneymoon always gives the impression that the good times are coming to an end. It is the same in politics. Political honeymoon lasts as long as instructed by the people. I am of the firm opinion that the honeymoon for President Granger is now firmly over. Please, Mr. President – no more excuses.The majority of people voted for Team Granger because this team put themselves out as the team to solve the major developmental challenges of our time in Guyana – growing perception of personal insecurity (crime), a broken judicial system, heavy corruption at all levels in the public service, opaque public sector projects that were perceived to be contributing to the enrichment of a select few, a mal-functional productive sector, a demotivated working class and a hardcore level of human poverty that seems not to be going away.Now that 25 percent of the Granger Term is gone, in the minds of many, the nation is today further away from the goals set by the Coalition in its manifesto back in May 2015. In short, it is becoming more apparent that we have marched backward on many fronts.There seems to be a stultification in economic growth for the poor and the working class. There are good reasons for this incoherent economic state of affair; there is a famine of strategic analytics in the Granger administration. This stone scam is but the latest case of this intellectual deprivation when it comes to making sound and strategic long-term decision for Guyana.Any sensible Minister of Finance would have intervened because of the economic consequence of this stone scam. Price or no price, all efforts should have been made to ensure that the Guyanese quarries match the Surinamese price to at least partially supply on this contract for 300,000 tonnes of crushed stones. The alternative that is being imposed on the nation by the Granger administration will have severe long-term socio-economic implications.You just cannot lift G$1.6 billion in cash and deposit it in a foreign country and expect everything to be kosher. This is tantamount to giving the children of Guyana buses and boats with one hand and a debt of G$1.6 billion with the other hand? Economic absurdity!This Stone ScamIt is not only possible for the productive sector (in which the quarrying sector is a member) to lead the recovery of the Guyanese economy with growth and hiring; it is a necessity. To help achieve a sustained economic recovery,Cheap Atlanta Braves Hoodies, our country needs a consumer-led commitment to buying Guyanese-made products, which supports the Guyanese productive sector jobs.More Guyanese productive sector jobs not only reduce the unemployment rate but also expand the tax base to pay for benefits, like NIS. And jobs will come if the Granger administration supports a “BUY-LOCAL” programme when spending taxpayer dollars. Every new job created in the quarrying sector will cause a town like Bartica to directly benefit from restaurant workers to heavy machine operators and so on.I was advised that it was estimated that if this deal was offered to the Guyanese quarries, for every new job created as a result, an average of four additional jobs would have been created in Region Seven, a PNC stronghold. Why is the PNC leadership punishing their supporters?This decision to buy crushed stones from a foreign country just does not make any sense. Instead, we went for short-term payback for a few and totally cashiered the longer-term economic advancement for the nation by signing this “lopsided contract” between the Chinese contractor and the Chinese/Suriname stone suppliers. The direct consequences of this contract are that all the potential new quarrying jobs that could have been created in Guyana over the next 12 months have now been exported to a foreign country.For the last 40 years and counting, Guyana has run a trade deficit. In 2015, the merchandise trade deficit was G$64 billion, according to the Bank of Guyana Annual Report. The main reason for the trade deficit in most of those years was the fact that we are an importer of oil. However, for most of 2015 and 2016, the low oil prices enhance Guyana’s position with respect to this trade deficit. But have we capitalised on this opportunity?Well if you look at the juice contract and the stone contract, they are just two of the many “loop-sided” contracts that were awarded under the Granger government that makes very little business sense.Here we had an opportunity to expand the quarrying sector,Cheap NFL Jerseys Store, by ensuring that the invitation for tenders had a price cap and a geographic clause that restricted the tender to quarry located within a certain geographic range to preserve the buy local element. Only if there are no local takers,Jerseys NFL