Dear Editor,

We watched with disgust the spectacle of corruption scandal after corruption scandal over the last decade, and when we thought it would have gone away with new leadership in government, oh what a surprise:  Corruption is here to stay.

So here we go again with more questions being raised about the awarding of the contract for the Specialty hospital not necessarily to the most competent and experienced contractor. And now there is the new $5 billion power plant which the most cooperative and compliant majority opposition voted for to facilitate without first demanding that the Public Procurement Commission be in place. Mr Carl Greenidge was so confident in his party’s stance on the Commission that he assured the Guyanese people that he is working on an October deadline, when the PPP had told him and the entire opposition by way of Minister Rodrigues that they were prepared for a Commission by the end of June 2012.  At least for the record the AFC was on the ball and responded with its nominee as soon as Minister Rodrigues threw out the challenge.

 Thank you AFC.  As for APNU, their actions to date can only leave political observers wondering.

Guyanese are fed up with the corrupt activities of the last decade that have permeated the political system, and the Police Force which itself is involved in corruption cannot enforce the law.  It is high time for a new constitutional Anti-Corruption Agency independent of the PPP regime to investigate acts of corruption. This anti-corruption agency should have similar powers to the Contractor General in Jamaica to investigate all procurement transactions including those done by NICIL.

But then again with such a lethargic and pro-PPP compliant APNU leadership, we can only dream. In terms of the tripartite talks which are controlled by the Gail Teixeiras and Roger Luncheons, the combined opposition has no tangible results to show for their efforts. This is true of Parliament too, where their only claim to fame is the reduction of the budget by $21 billion, although less than four months later, the PPP succeeded in getting $11 billion restored. The government is not interested in ending or reducing corruption or prosecuting any of its officials  for corrupt practices, and the majority opposition must use their powers to do something and do something fast about this.

The behaviour of the Minister of Health, Dr Ramsaran in deflecting questions on the billion dollars Specialty hospital is a matter for concern. Minister Ramsaran and his Permanent Secretary believed that they could have conned the reporters, but they were surprised by their resistance. Their behaviour is typical of the strategy used by others in the PPP, that is to attack the reporters/messengers when the questions get tough.

Despite all the pronouncements by the minority PPP government, Mr Ramotar has placed corruption on the back burner, and the parliamentary opposition which campaigned against PPP corrupt practices seems to have overlooked this critical development. Guyana needs an opposition which not only demands at press conferences an end to corruption, injustice and unfairness, but actually mobilizes the people into forcing change.

Why were the wrongdoers at NCN not placed before the courts?  Why were the policemen who killed the Linden Martyrs not placed before the courts?  Why were the officials who fleeced this nation in relation to a police boat not placed before the courts?

Of course, we are in no position to, and do not, conclude on the innocence or guilt of the persons. In fact, we ascribe to the jurisprudential principle of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law, and, therefore, agree with legal scholars that the issue of corruption ought to be thrashed out in a clinical and calm ambience of a courtroom.

The nation has been waiting patiently for President Ramotar to act; it is now clear he is not going to do so. It is time for the majority opposition to act. There should not be a dime more for the government until the Public Procurement Commission is fully established; until President Ramotar acknowledges the no-confidence motion passed by Parliament and asks for the resignation of Minister Rohee; until the government makes public all of NICIL’s transactions from 2000 to 2011; until the administration releases the investigative report on NCN and recognizes the need for fairness in the award of contracts.

Yours faithfully,
Asquith Rose
Harish S Singh