President Ramotar tells US clean your house first, don’t lecture us

The ruling administration, upset over recent, stinging criticisms by the US Government on corruption and the controversial issuance of several radio licences, has reacted sharply with a message of its own.

On the comments contained in the ‘United States of America 2012 Human Rights Report’ released over the weekend, President Donald Ramotar was uncharacteristically harsh, telling the US to clean up its house first.

President Donald Ramotar

 

 

During a press conference at his Vlissengen Road office yesterday, Ramotar said that nobody has the right to lecture Guyana. “I don’t feel we should be lectured upon; I don’t think that anybody has the moral right to lecture upon us.”

He drew reference to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, a detainment and interrogation facility of the US military, which recently saw several prisoners going on a hunger strike to protest abuse.

The Head of State admitted: “We do have issues (here). We have to try to work very hard to eradicate some of the weaknesses in our system.”
The President said that Guyana has taken steps to address some of the weaknesses in the system. One of these is a move to tackle money laundering and possible financing of terrorism. The amendment Bill was recently tabled in the National Assembly and is designed to close current loopholes in the law.

There have been accusations that countless buildings, businesses and other investments are financed from the proceeds of illegal business and crime. However, there have not been many successful prosecutions or seizures of such by government.

Ramotar also pointed to the accusations that the US government has been taking prisoners to different countries and carrying out tortures such as ‘water boarding’. “…That don’t happen in Guyana. We don’t practice those types of things here in our country.”

He also spoke of the case of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been virtually held a prisoner in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for 11 months now. Assange sought refuge there after publishing a number of leaked US documents on his website, WikiLeaks. Some of the publications included embarrassing secret cables between US Ambassadors and the State Department. Guyana was mentioned, too, in the cables.
“So I think we should all work to clean up our house to strengthen our systems and make these better because those who are making the statements are no paragon of virtue either.”
According to the US in the Human Rights report, the issuance of 11 radio licences under the administration of former President Bharrat Jagdeo “lacked transparency.”

In November 2011, the very month he was leaving the Office of the President, Jagdeo handed out ten radio licences to his friends with associates being granted 15 radio frequencies.

“In 2011 the government approved applications for 10 new radio stations, although the process was controversial, lacked transparency and contained further steps needed before the new stations could begin broadcasting,” the report on Human Rights Practices stated.

However, the report noted that the government influenced print and broadcast media and continued to exert heavy control over the content of the National Communications Network (television), giving Government spokespersons extended coverage, while limiting participation of opposition figures.
Two Fridays ago, two challenges were filed in the High Court against the granting of radio frequencies by Jagdeo.

Broadcaster Enrico Woolford, the National Media and Publishing Company (publishers of Kaieteur News) and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association are asking that the High Court quash Jagdeo’s decision.

The US government also criticised the Guyana Government’s apparent ineffectiveness in implementing laws that provide for criminal penalties for corruption by public officials in the Human Rights Report.

The report stated that there remains widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the judiciary.

“The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators assessed that government corruption was a serious problem,” the report said.
The Guyana Police Force bore the brunt of the report’s assessment, which pointed to allegations of police officers being connected to the drug underworld.

When it comes to the Office of the Auditor General, the report was uncomplimentary.

The Office of the Auditor General scrutinizes the expenditure of public funds on behalf of Parliament and conducts financial audits of all publicly funded entities, including donor-funded entities, local government agencies and trade unions and reports to the National Assembly.

However, the US human rights report stated that the effectiveness of the office remained limited since the government may or may not act on the discrepancies noted in its reports.

“Observers noted that recurring discrepancies were repeatedly highlighted in the reports without officials taking appropriate follow-up actions to investigate and resolve the discrepancies,” the report highlighted.
The 2001 constitution called for the establishment of a Public Procurement Commission (PPC) to monitor public procurement and ensure that authorities conduct the procurement of goods and services in a fair, transparent, competitive and cost-effective manner.

However, the government never constituted the PPC despite public criticism of the present system’s ineffectiveness in awarding government contracts in an equitable and transparent manner.

The report stated that under pressure from opposition parties in parliament, the government promised to establish the PPC by June last year, but this has not yet materialized.

The US has an embassy in Guyana with thousands of Guyanese migrants living there. The US has also been a major donor to Guyana.