The Canadian is telling them indirectly to 'stop thief'

The US of A  is telling them indirectly to 'stop thief'

Everyone is telling them to 'stop thief'

Donald Ramotar is deaf, he does not hear.

AFC councillor details widespread corruption within party

WEDNESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013 15:38 ADMINISTRATOR

Guyana most corrupt country in

English-speaking Caribbean

-watchdog body calls for Procurement Commission, new Integrity Commission,

“When desperately needed development funds are stolen by corrupt individuals and institutions, poor and vulnerable people are robbed of the education, health care and other essential services.”- UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon

Four days before the world observes the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day, new rankings have placed Guyana as the most corrupt country in English-speaking Caribbean countries. According to rankings released yesterday by watchdog corruption body, Transparency International (TI), the 2012 Annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has placed Guyana at a lowly 133 out of total of 174 countries. Guyana managed a miserly 28 points out of 100. And in the presentation of the Transparency International findings, head of the local chapter, Attorney at Law, Gino Persaud, and Secretary Frederick Collins, both lauded Kaieteur News which has been highlighting corruption in Guyana. The newspaper has been investigating the various contracts issued under questionable circumstances and examining the numerous projects, many of which were believed to be overpriced.

TIGI officials: From left is Vice-President, Dr. Anand Goolsarran; President, Gino Persaud and Director, Frederick Collins.

The results were released by Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI), the local contact of TI. TI would have conducted its surveys gauging perceptions to corruption by examining relations in the public sector, the local police, Customs, procurement and doing business. The index has become a signature tool widely used around the globe to measure the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries and looked at keenly by investors and multilateral lending agencies. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tie for first place with scores of 90, helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions. Guyana tied Comoros, Honduras, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Russia. “This ranking places us at the bottom of the English Speaking Caribbean with only Haiti below us at 165. It is noteworthy that in the Caribbean, Barbados ranks at 15 with a score of 76; both St. Lucia and Bahamas rank at 22 with a score of 71 and St. Vincent and the Grenadines rank at 36 with a score of 62,” TIG’s President, Gino Persaud said during a press conference at the offices of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Waterloo Street. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia once again cling to the bottom rung of the index. In these countries, the lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions underscore the need to take a much stronger stance against corruption. At the press conference also were former Auditor General, Dr. Anand Goolsarran, who is TIGI’s Vice President; and Director, Frederick Collins. Persaud, a lawyer, said that the advocacy body will be writing government on the findings of the index.

Integrity Commission… TIGI listed a number of measures that Government will have to implement to raise Guyana’s rankings. These include the appointment of competent and independent members of the Integrity Commission to scrutinize the financial disclosures of politicians and bureaucrats and with adequate staff and resources to ensure the Commission can adequately fulfill its mandate. Persaud noted that Prime Minister Sam Hinds in June had promised to have new members of the Integrity Commission sworn within a week. Among other things TIGI is also calling for the urgent appointment of members of the Public Procurement Commission to regulate government contracts and minimize their involvement; the implementation of modern anti-corruption legislation; implementation of whistle-blowing legislation; the enforcement of existing anti-corruption laws by investigating and prosecuting the corrupt and the strengthening of existing anti-corruption institutions such as the Guyana Police Force and the Financial Intelligence established under the money laundering legislation. “These institutions are weak and unable to counter serious white collar crime and corrupt activities,” Persaud said in his read statement. Guyana should also appoint an Ombudsman to address grievances from members of the public; ensure that all public monies are placed to the credit of the Consolidated Fund, and no public expenditure must be incurred without Parliamentary approval. TIGI also called for all appointments to public offices to be advertised and made with due regard to technical competence, and not loyalty; and for the Access to Information Act passed in Parliament to be strengthened and made operational. TIGI also called for the strengthening of civil society and for organisations such as the Guyana Bar Association, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Private Sector Commission, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and the Guyana Press Association to become more involved in combating corruption by speaking out against corruption and being proactive within its own membership on tackling corruption and by partnering with us for collective efforts. “We call on the press corps to be more vigilant in acting as a professional, impartial and responsible watchdog body against corruption.”

Corruption exists According to Goolsarran, most countries are doing everything possible to “get to the top of the table” of rankings. He urged, as a start, that government accept the index in good faith and do something about it. The officials drew reference to a judge in Brazil who targeted a number of politicians close to former President Lula and who was the laughing stock of many. The politicians were brought to trial. Asked to comment on the impact of the findings, Dr Goolsarran said that serious investors use the findings by Transparency International to determine whether they would invest in a country. Many have opted to cancel plans for investment in Guyana. TIGI is seeking funding now to educate Guyanese and will seek to meet with government and Members of the Parliament to discuss the issue which ultimately affects the way Guyana is perceived. The TIGI officials refused to be drawn into answering questions whether President Donald Ramotar had done enough to tackle corruption in Guyana. According to Collins, newspaper reporters and even the Auditor General’s annual report have been indicators of the situation of corruption in Guyana. TIGI also disclosed that it has been asked by the Minister of Natural Resources to work with his Ministry on mining, an area which has been besotted with issues of corruption and lawlessness in recent years. According to TIGI, the index demonstrates that corruption continues to ravage societies around the globe. Two-thirds of the 176 countries ranked in the 2012 index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), showing that public institutions need to be more transparent, and powerful officials held more accountable. According to Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International, “Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people. After a year of focus on corruption, we expect governments to take a tougher stance against the abuse of power.” UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon has said that corruption afflicts all countries, undermining social progress and breeding inequality and injustice. “When desperately needed development funds are stolen by corrupt individuals and institutions, poor and vulnerable people are robbed of the education, health care and other essential services. All of us have a responsibility to take action against the cancer of corruption.” The private sector, too, stands to gain enormously from effective action, he said. “Corruption distorts markets, increases costs for companies and ultimately punishes consumers.” According to the BBC, corruption was the world’s most talked about issue in 2010 and 2011.

The Discovery channel was invited by the PPP to show Gold Rush.  And all these miners can talk about is how backward Guyana is.   Some of them even wanted to turn back as soon as they arrived in Guyana, so this is not only due to their location in a remote area.  The leader commented on the high levels of poverty and the low wages that has led to very high levels of illegal mining. 

This also points out that the PPP as no idea what is going on in the interior....too busy using some yopung ministers daughter as a front for corruption.

By the time the PPP ae finished with Guyana it will be as broke and as indebted as it was when the PNC were voted out.  No debt write-offs will be possible this time though.   And much of the debt is funded locally, which puts the local banking/insurance sector at risk.

Not condoning the PPP corruption, as it's real, pervasive and the reason I went against them in 2011.  However, the PPP debt and PNC debts are two different things.  The PNC took loans from nations like Libya and others in the ME to pay salaries of the military and Govt employees. As long as most of the debt taken is invested in national infrastructure which stimulates the economy, the debt is well grounded.  The major risk which face Guyana is a PNC tantrum creating mayhem and destroying the overall economy making even the good debt non-performing.

That being said, I believe Ramotar needs to take corruption head-on and risk the ire of the Jagdeo camp.  Jagdeo has a self serving camp trying to hold onto back-door power without the accountability.  A lot of his cronies are living right there in Queens and Toronto.  The last time I met with him, he is very well aware of the reality and perception and knows where the problem lies.  However, it's a complex and multi-faceted problem.

It's unfortunate, but what is needed is for the PPP to be out of power and "cleanse" their ranks.  The risk here, replacing them with the despotic, racist and corrupt PNC willing to use the institutions to rule over Guyana infinitely.  The PNC represents an existential threat to the Indians of Guyana, which then leaves the corrupt, inept PPP as the better alternative.

Indeed a better alternative to the selected few PPP/C elites. Baseman you are perpetually indentured to your racist mentality.

Don't fool yourself dude except for PNC banning of few staple indian food items the PPP administration is more hostile to Indians when it comes to collecting bribes for services and providing security...

Agree Sir. The PPP is very hostile of East Indians. My mamoo and pappy business is under severe pressure from the mafias of OP/NICIL/MOF/Freedom House. PNC never oppressed East Indians similar to today.

Where did I mention banning food.  Infact some of the targeted bans were good and many Indian farmers benefited.  Baseman believes the "domestication" of Guyana's food supply by the PNC was not a bad idea.  The PNC issue is more than banning a few food items.

Corruption is the scourge of the 3rd world. In Guyana it is no different as each afc/pnc operatives that dominate the public sector have their hands out to collect bribes for the simplest of tasks.  Ramjattan, Hughes, Moses, Trotman, Green, Granger and Basil are some of the most corrupt individuals in Guyana as we have seen revelations in the past year. The problem is that corruption is a scourge in Guyana from which no one party is immune. We have seen the claims of corruption from fleeing member of the AFC after they went to the party expecting a pure environment only to be confronted with the same old bribery and thieving they fled from in the PPP.  Some like AsJ, Mitjuanita and the pedophile crew bury their heads in the sand and pretend that it does not exist  in the AFC but the party's fleeing membership tells a different story. Even Baseman fled after his financial contributions were used for an all night drinking session by the party's leadership.  To cure corruption the citizens have to take the first step and report stand up against it, recently we saw asj tell a story of how his aunt paid bribes and how he himself would have paid bribes to forgo delays. These are the type of weak individuals who encourage corruption. Again, it is a scourge of the society and not relegated to any one party. 

Drugabeer, why did your family deserted you on this train?

Mits De Orange thing is a Train Buffer

used to Stop the Train.....

Also called a Train Stopper .... or....

Train Bumper.

LOL! I can see the color imprint. hahahahahhah!