This letter by Mr Yusuf brought tears to my eyes 

quote:

How can a person spend $900,000 on food for one month without any accountability?

Maybe AFC peeps eat a lot? I know a few are chubby! 

Mi tike datt yusuf man gah wan nice lil pay-aff comin' from di PPP.

You think like wan real Bottomhouse Estate, illiterate Coolie. No wonder Guyana so FED Up.

Shame Shame AFC. Corruption.

Shame Shame AFC. Corruption.

Shame Shame Moses, Ramjattan, Gerhard and others. 

These Guys will hurt the poor working class for political gain but play a blind eye on massive corruption in the AFC.

Shame Shame AFC. Corruption.

Save Guyana from AFC crooks.

Acording to Mr. Yusuf:

To date, no one has contacted him. These snake oil AFC crooks have no shame. This is their way of investigating fraud in the AFC. They are all silent and do not want to upset dictator Ramjattan.

Guyana has a young Burnham now,  Mr. Ramjattan.

Prem Misir brings tears to my eyes.

Yea, yu deh up deh ah talk wah good fuh abie.  Mi gah mi 3 pikney dem a grow up hay, dem nah knoo Merika.  Yu deh deh ah pump yuh gyas an laba laba yuh mout.  Abie gafa tek care abie prablims hey.  Wah evva happan hey, yuh sk0nt seh safe up deh.  So nah call mi sh1t, mi gah moo paisa and mi shure livin bettah dan yu.  Yeh, mi gah cupple big house hay and 1 in Florida.  Mi pikney dem a goa goa up deh university and none nah gah no loans pon dem bak.  Soa yu keep yuh "literate" rass up deh an leh abie "illiterate" deal wid abie issues donk hay.  Gwan soa yuh patacake mout.

Your only contribution to this topic which seeks to discuss  Yusuf's expose' is to throw in the irrelevant ?

AFC ATTACKING FREE SPEECH!!

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I am aware of this. We must understand the context. Gerhard merely suggested to Balwant, who is not a decision-making member of the AFC, which public meetings he must speak at. Gerhard in classic Gerhard style did not like the attack style of Balwant. Gerhard was right to make such a call because he is a founding member and exec of the AFC. But this is the nature of a rag tag team. Loose cannons and all...sometimes you have to appreciate the dictatorship style of Forbes and Jagdeo.

Tar_K  you guys sideline Balwant Persaud, because he's not a "yes man".?

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I don't have anything to discuss except to say there must be an investigation and pay Ramayya what he is owed. I can think of many many many more serious and deadly events under PPP that there was never an investigation and mainly cover ups. Example the murder of Monica Reese...everyone in GT would tell you it was a Minister's son who did it. Then you have Minister Sawh in more recent times...shall I go on? BTW, I am confident in what I write that I don't need to use the name of black females to write in a paper owned by tax payers.

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I don't have the power to sideline anyone in AFC politics. All I am saying is Gerhard as an executive and founding memember of the AFC had a right to make a call on the nature of public speaking and where the person can speak. If that is what Balwant is so angry about then you can't even offer him the no "yes man" label. The AFC will clearly need to learn who they get to speak at their public meetings. Seems like more control is needed.

First HASEEF YUSUF spoke out

 and his  character was assassinated

Then Balwant Perasud Spoke out

his character is now being assassinated

It this a ploy by the AFC.

To members who dare call a shade a shade?

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It is quite foolish to say anyone is attacking the character of Balwant. I am just adding context to the Gerhard-Balwant feud. Let the readers judge.

Balwant Persaud aint no fool, and would never allow a boy like Gerhard to silence him, lets be free Taron, Balwant has a point.

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Gerhard is about 40 years old and runs a successful business. I don't think he is a boy. And what might that point be?

Actually he'll be 41 this year, but his years exceeded his political decision-making skills, so inept is he, the political gathering denied him a seat in parliament and confined him to being their snake oil vendor, while he's not watering his roses.

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Dude...with rabid racists running around GUY you had to achieve ethnic balance. With three Indos already coming from Berbice you had to be aware of this. Surely you are not as daft to not realize that. Also I know he wants to grow his business. MP position don't allow for that.  

It would be nice if you water roses rather than carry water for the PPP chalking up Karmic penalties against your soul.

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To a PPP simpleton it might appear to be merely watering roses. However it is a successful specialty business that requires botany, management skills, financial skills, logistical skills and much more. No wonder why you people have failed to take Guyana away from the status of a dankey cart economy after 19.5 years. No wonder why you people failed the sugar workers by giving them a bogus factory. No wonder why ya'll could not anticipate that US$580 mill/year was never going to come. No wonder why ya'll could not see the sugar price cut coming when others saw it as early as 1995. Many things are not as simple as you seem to believe. And merely pumping and selling black oil is not a silver bullet.

TK  you are in over drive, trying to derail this thread away from the thievery, and embezzlement of funds with the AFC, stick to the thread, and deal with the elements of corruption within your ranks.

AFC’s double standards on transparency, accountability

I am curious.

Does AFC agree that there are fiscal improprieties that need investigation, or are they denying Yusuf's accusation?

Somehow, I get the impression they are on the defensive, and ignoring this fellow's allegation.  Spending $900K on food is quite ludicrous.  Is the accusation true or not?

First HASEEF YUSUF spoke out

 and his  character was assassinated

Then Balwant Perasud Spoke out

his character is now being assassinated

It this a ploy by the AFC.

To members who dare call a shade a shade?

Speak Balwant Persaud speak, don't be afraid of the AFC  Cabal

Dude, he has been the one doing the assassinating! The above is his story! I am leaving just the link because amral does not mind riposting from the news but he may be offended by reposts from dubious blogs.

Time will tell Balwant Persaud probably has loads of inside info about the rumbling within the AFC camp.

- call for independent public commission of inquiry to investigate

A group of concerned GUYANESE citizens today issued a statement calling for an independent public commission of inquiry to be convened to investigate the rampant corruption and pillaging of the Guyanese treasury by the PPPC government.

Over the past 19 years, the treasury has lost billions of dollars to corruption by members of the PPPC. Billions which should have been used to improve schools, to bring electricity to rural cities, to improve water quality and pressure for all Guyanese residents, to improve training and salaries for the armed forces to reduce rampant crime. Billions to pay decent salaries to public sector employees, to strengthen and expand the nation’s sewage network system, to strengthen our agricultural sector and to guarantee loans for micro-enterprises for women, youth, citizens with business ideas and the chronically underemployed, billions which should have been spent by the government to strengthen the Guyanese economy and increase jobs.

Instead, billions of dollars from the Guyanese treasury are lost to ineptitude and mismanagement or reside in the foreign bank accounts of government officials, their cronies and family members.

Recent news reported the latest PPPC corruption scheme. A G$300 million contract for computers and lab equipment was awarded to a “barber shop” company with no visible operating facility, no business phone number and no known employees. Yet, the PPPC government saw fit to award them a substantial contract to build computer labs and provide equipment support in 70 public schools.

In another case in March 2010, the PPPC government announced that Makeshwar “Fip” Motilall had secured the US$15.4 million government to build roads and bridges leading to the Amaila Falls Hydro Project. Motilall’s company indicated no prior experience although those bidders for the contracts were asked to provide their experience in similar large scale projects together with references and credentials and to detail the equipment owned which was required to carry out the project. When Motilall’s realised that he could no longer execute the project, he transferred his licence to Sithe Global. This was once again a situation where taxpayers will be required to fund the project cost overruns, inherent corruption and additional costs due to changing vendors and missed project timelines.

Citizens must not forget the secret Vaitarna deal. In spite of the PPPC government’s commitment to limiting deforestation and in spite of the PPPC government’s commitment to value added forestry, the government of Guyana in a secret deal only revealed by The Times of India sold 1.8 million acres of Guyanese forest for the express purpose of the export of logs to India for furniture maker Vaitarna. The deal which supposedly included a US$18Million investment by Vaitarna was negotiated under the shield of darkness. This deal must also be investigated. The lands of Guyana are a national asset to be used for development. Any deals committing Guyana’s national assets should be transparently negotiated. This one was not.

Concerned Guyanese citizens are adamant that an independent public commission of inquiry should be convened because the PPPC cannot be trusted to investigate themselves. Concerned Guyanese citizens wish to remind the public that, in June 2011, the Parliamentary Accounts Committee reported some troubling discoveries it made pertinent to the 2007 and 2008 audited accounts for government ministries and agencies, even going so far as to contemplate calling in the police. No action was ever taken. In fact, no major serious government-led corruption investigations have resulted in prosecutions since the PPPC regime has been in office.

Citizens of Guyana need only to look around their community and notice the multi-million dollar shoddy road development and maintenance projects seemingly always in progress. Citizens need to look at the multi-million dollar PPPC government and friends of government officials’ housing development projects, notice the sewage system, roads and infrastructure put into place at taxpayer’s expense and compare that with the quality of services offered to the common man.

Concerned Guyanese citizens are stating unequivocally that all Guyanese must pay attention to the rampant corruption and pillaging of the treasury because the money stolen is money which should have been used to reinvest in an improved quality of life for our county. It is our contention that the PPPC has lost sight of government’s role in a democracy. The PPPC party has empowered itself to believe that the billions of tax payer dollars in the treasury are there to enrich “business partners”, friends and family members. The tax payers of Guyana are suffering. The taxpayers of Guyana have been robbed. The taxpayers of Guyana have been swindled and they must say enough.

Concerned Guyanese citizens are calling for an unbiased commission of inquiry to review and analyze the distribution of government tax payer-funded contracts. The team must investigate which government officials are benefiting from kickbacks and which government officials are “secret partners” with the inexperienced business owners who continue to “win” contracts, who continue to provide shoddy service, who continue to overcharge and under-perform and who continue to rob the citizens of Guyana of a much improved quality of life. The PPPC government should be happy to acquiesce to this request if there is nothing to hide. The citizens of Guyana deserve accountability.

Yusuf, Balwant, Gomatee and others talking about corruption in the AFC and they diverting the topic. You all stay focused and expose these crooks.

Absolute nonesense.  It is his responsibility to issue the receipt with the relevant details.  When i read this, clearly this Ramayya needs to be called out and a certain percent of the missing funds should be assessed as taxable income.

Mr Ramjattan cannot be expected to keep eyes on this during the heat of a campaign, but I ask where were the local campaign managers, what were the instructions and SOPs they gave to the various heads?  Anyway, it's critical that Mr Ramjattan sanction an independent investigation and let the chips fall where they may.  There is something larger than Mr Ramayya at stake here.

From Guyana, South America, embattled President Donald Ramotar has announced that a high-level delegation is slated to engage in security, economic and political discussions in Washington, DC with United States officials from May 14th to May 18th, 2012.

Among the many important areas of discussion to be addressed on the agenda are security in light of the country’s expanding investment protection and political issues. The impoverished citizens of Guyana, already suffering, may well be wondering if there will be time to squeeze narco-trafficking, pervasive government corruption, and totalitarian governance onto the agenda in DC.

In January 2012, the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Survey branded Guyana as “repressed” and listed among other variables the problem of “oversized government” as the biggest barrier to the country’s development. Guyana’s economic freedom score remains at 48.4, making its economy the 153rd freest among 183 countries. According to the Index, Guyana does not perform well in any of the ten economic freedoms, and is slightly above the world average only in labour freedom and monetary freedom.

The Survey noted that average economic growth over the past five years has been only about three percent, trailing other developing countries. In fact, also regarding economic freedom, the Survey noted, “Guyana is ranked 23rd out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is well below the world and regional averages.” “Long-standing constraints on overall economic freedom include property rights protected only erratically under the weak rule of law and widespread corruption in all areas of government”, it says. The report stated that the biggest barrier to development is Guyana’s “oversized government,” with expenditures that often exceed half of GDP. “Significant restrictions on foreign investment, combined with an inefficient bureaucracy, substantially depress the entrepreneurial environment,” the report adds.

PPPC government officials flaunt obscene wealth in a country so poor that citizens are routinely asked to pay for lamp posts on their streets and electrical wiring to their homes before their community can access electricity. Many homes have no running water to the home, and when there is water coming through the faucets it is too polluted to use for washing or drinking. Crime is so rampant that seemingly every home invests in unsafe steel grills to protect their doors and windows. More than thirty percent of the population is chronically unemployed, and government services are “managed by error” due to a vicious commitment to cronyism and nepotism resulting in inept senior officials who are flatly incapable of carrying out their assigned duties.

While citizens of Guyana are encouraged by the Guyana government’s outreach to the US State Department, they find it all the more surprising considering that the PPPC Guyana government has in the past rejected direct US help in curbing rampant drug trafficking in Guyana. In fact, former PPPC head of state Bharrat Jagdeo had instead reached out to improve bilateral agreements with President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Venezula, Hugo Chavez, and the Socialist rulers of China.

As seen in the US communications published by Wikileaks, it is well documented that high level PPPC government officials have been closely involved with drug trafficker Roger Khan. Mr. Khan is now serving a thirty-year sentence in US prison for drug trafficking. His Guyana government co-conspirators had, however, paradoxically turned over crime fighting to Mr. Khan, resulting in the extrajudicial murders of 400 young men in Guyana.

Even as the meetings are planned for next week, Minister of Housing and Tourism Irfan Ally has been accused of rampant corruption and ineptitude within his ministry. Not only does he own multiple homes purchased with the proceeds of corruption, but he is also known to charter private planes for weekend trips to the Caribbean to watch cricket matches.

Minster Robert Persaud who will also be travelling to the State Department is well known for his alleged “anchor baby” scam. His then pregnant wife was sent to the US to give birth. All of his children are US citizens. He is also notorious in Guyana for allegedly shaking down contractors for millions of dollars, and is known to have become suddenly wealthy since becoming a Minister of the Government.

The citizens of Guyana urge US State Department officials to question these three notorious individuals regarding their involvement in corruption, and the corrosion of democracy and transparency in Guyana. The PPPC have strangled the citizens of Guyana for the past 19 years, instituting ethnic cleansing of the public service, and acquiescing in what is believed to be the most rampant corruption in all of the Southern hemisphere. The PPPC government is a cabal of corrupt individuals, and the citizens of Guyana voted for change. The citizens of Guyana insisted on change. Hopefully, the State Department will expand their recently demonstrated support for democratic transitions, and stand with the people of Guyana, instead of lending succor to alleged criminals, whether or not under colour of government office.

Exactly what is the aim of this?  This smells like a Brooklyn output.  The people have spoken and the Govt has been given the mandate to form the Govt.  They are abiding by the constitution and as such ligit, whether some like it or not.  This letter reflects an unbalanced mind filled with hatred and arrogance.  You guys, go get a life.

BTW, tell the US Govt not to do business with the "Socialist Govt of China".  What a bunch of baloney.

 The aim is exactly as stated. Call the state department and ask these corruptocrtats to get in line or feel the heat.

Everyone can and should follow their advocacy positions as they see fit and the fellows who wrote the piece above have not been far off the mark. Given the toxic brew coming from the PPP the above is tame.

If they corrupt the State dept won't see them. Try thinking about something else.

With all due respect, I do believe the US State Dept has more pressing issues on their hands than dealing with the technicalities of Guyana's democratic process.  Best of luck.