Leaders use Guyana as a vehicle to accumulate wealth – Dr. Thomas

Recently, Professor Emeritus, Clive Thomas, noted some “facts” which he said has contributed to his drawn conclusion that Guyana is a degenerating state moving more and more into criminality.

Professor emeritus, Clive Thomas

Among the things considered by Dr. Thomas was the recorded conversation between Attorney General, Anil Nandlall’s and a Kaieteur News reporter. This is where Nandlall was heard making violent threats against Kaieteur News.  Also considered by Thomas was President Donald Ramotar’s prorogation of Parliament.
Professor Thomas said that the root cause of most of Guyana’s problems is the fact that those in control of the country and its resources are not managing it like a government should. Thomas said that it is clear that Government officials are using the country’s resources for their personal upliftment and that of their friends and family.
Addressing those who gathered at a symposium hosted by the Working People Alliance (WPA) held at the National Library, Thomas said, “At the heart of this worsening (reference to increased authoritarian rule) lies a ruling cabal who patently values the Guyana state, first and foremost, as a vehicle for promoting their criminal networks, enterprises and other endeavours.”
Dr. Thomas noted that, in “the language of radical political economy, the Guyana state is now operating as a “state- for- itself”. That is, it is primarily geared to function as an instrumentality for accumulating wealth and treasure for those who run it.”
He said that therein lies the reason for many other problems faced by the Guyanese public. Dr. Thomas opined that if that is addressed, Guyana stands a chance of moving forward in a positive way. That is to mean, that the politicians running the country should put the masses first.
The recently retired professor said that the government is also looting the nation’s resources. He said that each resource that is caught up in the present looting requires its own examination. He promised to go into that realm at a later time but paid attention to the main resources at risk.
Some of the resources include minerals like gold and manganese; the forest and the spectrum- needed for communication services like mobile phones, computer/ internet, television and radio broadcasting.
He said that under the guise of promoting a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration is “fraudulently promoting a frantic scramble for minerals with the attendant looting of Guyana’s natural resources.”
He added, “Government represents that, over the medium term, with the right package of tax-giveaways and Government generosity in providing would-be investors with publicly owned natural resources this would fundamentally transform the economy and sustainably raise the overall level of livelihoods.”
Dr. Thomas’s comments tie in with an expose‘ done by Kaieteur News which highlighted former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s use of US$20B to enrich him, his family and friends.
Jagdeo, when at the helm of power in Guyana, engineered the heist of the telecommunications industry. The plan was to use monies from the national coffers to finance a number of seemingly unrelated projects that cost Guyanese in excess of US$100 Million ($20B).
To facilitate this plan, Jagdeo embarked on the US$32M E-Governance project which he claimed was to increase efficiency in the public service.
He also launched another ambitious project using the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL. Jagdeo said that he was upgrading GPL to address line losses and needed US$42M to do so. Hidden in the transmission power lines along the coasts was a fibre-optic cable.
He also initiated a fibre optic cable from Brazil and which is in trouble to bring internet to the city.
Shortly before he was scheduled to demit office, Jagdeo rolled out another multi-billion-dollar (US$27M) project and said Government will supply 90,000 laptops to families across the country.
By the laptop project, Jagdeo has created a demand for internet. It is the intention to use a number of companies he has close links with, along with the infrastructure from the E-Governance and GPL projects, to take control of the communication market.
Industry experts have also opined that by refusing to use GT&T’s submarine cable in the first place, Jagdeo in essence has left Guyana four years behind the technology curb.