FOLLOW THE MONEY AND FIND THE BEE
September 3, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
There was no need for a commission of inquiry into the sugar industry. There is no need for a diagnosis of the state of sugar. Everyone knows sugar is in crisis. What is required is a solution to the problem and therefore what was needed was an expert panel to come up with the solutions to the industry.
Instead of a Commission of Inquiry, the government should have asked the international community to recruit some of the best experts in the world and have them do a report on this issue.
A commission of inquiry will regurgitate a long list of woes and then make some recommendations. An expert panel, on the other hand, will be better placed to suggest what needs to be done from a technical and financial point of view.
There is no need for a commission of inquiry into public service salaries. Everyone knows that the salaries are poor. No one expects them to be satisfactory overnight. The parties that now constitute the government had claimed that there was a lot of pilfering under the PPP and therefore when this is stopped there will be money to pay workers a significant increase.
Five per cent is not a significant increase. Paying a constable $50,000 per month is not satisfactory. No one needs a commission of inquiry into these issues.
What is needed is for an accountant and a consumer advocate to sit down and compile what it will take for a man to survive for one month. This figure should then be used as a living wage.
The government should then try to achieve a living wage within five years. People will understand this. People will work harder because they know that within five years they are going to be properly paid. There was no need for a commission of inquiry into public service salaries.
A commission of inquiry is needed into the establishment of the Berbice River Bridge. Let the truth be told about the viability of this bridge and the identities of the shareholders etc.
Let there be a commission of inquiry into the Clico meltdown. Trinidad and Tobago had such a commission of inquiry. Why not in Guyana? We want to know whether persons were tipped off and withdrew their monies before the meltdown.
The fact that the matter is in Court should not preclude an investigation.
There is a need for a commission of inquiry into the construction of the Marriott Hotel which has a similar financial model like the Berbice River Bridge.
There is a need for a commission into the Amaila Falls Road Project. There are a lot of questions to be answered there.
There is a need for a commission of inquiry into the contract that was awarded to the company that was supposed to build the Specialty Hospital. The company has been sued by the government of Guyana.
There is a need for a commission of inquiry into the sale of the Sanata Textile Mills. One thing was advertised and then another thing was sold. Why? Let a commission of inquiry answer.
Why are we also paying for audits of certain government agencies? There is no need to be paying auditing firms to do this. Get some final year accounting students, employ them, pay two highly qualified supervisors and have them supervise these audits. It will save millions of dollars.
It is a waste of money to be paying auditing firms to do what any good accounting student can do. We do not need any forensic audits in Guyana. Follow the money and you will find the bee.