Country’s corruption rating worsens

…Haiti first, Guyana second

President Ramotar, after nearly three years as President, still cannot pronounce on the NCN report. The Marriott Hotel project still has more questions than answers.
This year, the Finance Minister has spent $4.5B without the approval of the National Assembly.
Then there was the Internal Auditor with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority who was sent packing, because he unearthed fraud and recommended that the Chief Executive Officer, Lionel Wordsworth, be sanctioned.
These are some of the things that have contributed to the findings by Transparency International which rates Guyana as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International for 2013 has found that Guyana has slipped lower than the previous year giving rise to a perceived increase in corruption under the Donald Ramotar Administration.
Of all the countries of the world: Out of a score of 100 Denmark and New Zealand scored the best in the world with a score 91 each.
Somalia was perceived to be the most corrupt of the 177 countries across the world that was surveyed.
In the Caribbean region Barbados is rated 15th with a score of 75 while Jamaica and Trinidad are tied at 83rd with a score of 38.
Guyana, however is tied with Bangladesh, Kenya, and Ivory Coast at 136th with a score 27. In 2012 Guyana had scored 28 points.
Guyana remains the second most corrupt country in the Caribbean according to the report, just above Haiti which scored 19.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.
A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean.
A country’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index.
According to Transparency International no country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50.
“This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem…The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.”