PROMINENT businessman Captain Gerry Gouveia has lashed out at the just released findings in the latest Transparency International (TI) report. The former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) dismissed the conclusions as “nothing but a mere reflection of a negative perception that is being created by some individuals” whom he described as “negaholics” and “prophets of doom”.

The TI 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which was made public on Wednesday, ranked Guyana 133 amongst 174 countries. But, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Gouveia was blunt in his assessment, noting that there has been a massive campaign by persons whom he called “negaholics” to create the perception of large scale corruption in Guyana. According to him, negaholics are people who spread negativity and are “prophets of doom and gloom”. However, he clarified that he is not saying there are no incidents of corruption but added that the people who have been spreading rumours and misinformation, somehow believe that this campaign will only hurt the government. But he emphasised that it is in fact hurting the entire country and its image and will affect investor confidence and hence hinder job creation in this country. “What I believe the people involved in this campaign are not realising is that this is not just the government they are hurting. They are actually attempting to hurt job creation in Guyana, which is one of the greatest challenges facing Guyanese leaders today…not only job creation but how we create proper paying jobs for our young people,” Gouveia stated. He advised that the only way to boost job creation is to enhance investor confidence and, for this to be done, an enabling environment needs to be created. “So we have to have respect for law and order, respect for property rights and, more importantly, we have to have peace and security and stability in our country,” Gouveia maintained. In addition, he related that it is important to ensure that the image of the country on the international arena is not one of gloom and doom. STATISTICS He said if you look at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics, Guyana is a shining star in the Caribbean. “Everybody else is seeing it except the gloom and doom people in Guyana who are attempting to, somehow, discredit the government, which is fine. That is their right… but they’re also discrediting the country and hurting investor confidence,” Gouveia reiterated. He emphasised on his belief that TI is a credible institution and beneficial to keeping balance within a society. “I actually believe that the people involved in the transparency institute are very credible people. I believe that they mean well. It’s important in a country like ours that we have such an organisation and it is important that they do their work,” Gouveia said. While he acknowledged that the views of TI are important, he said it is vital to understand how the information is gathered, adding that any information that is secured on perception is exactly what it is, a perception. “Some people like to say that perception is as good as reality. I think that is nonsense, because perception can be formed by a negative campaign and we’ve actually had a very widespread campaign to believe that we could discredit the government by somehow creating this widespread perception of all this corruption,” he remarked. GEARED Meanwhile, Gouveia highlighted that the holiday season is here and the Private Sector is geared and ready for it. “We have thousands and thousands of Guyanese coming off those planes at Timehri every day…Guyanese are booking up and coming home…the hotels are busy, restaurants are busy, the resorts are busy,” said the owner of Roraima Airways. He declared that there is a Christmas spirit around the country that the “negaholics” cannot affect, reminding that Guyana is a country on the move and it is important for all to understand that it is a country in transition. “This Christmas is going to be a wonderful Christmas and I believe that people must take note of this report and the fact that there is this widespread negative perception of Guyana because the report speaks to the fact that it’s a perception,” Gouveia asserted. He said, if someone has a negative perception of their country due to a deliberate campaign, it means that the campaign is probably being successful.