IT is the duty of every democratically elected government to answer questions as they pertain to the nation’s business. This, the current administration has again done, with reports on the functions of the National Investments and Commercial Industrial Limited (NICIL), as they relate to the privatisation and divestment programme of State-owned entities, beginning in the late 1980s under the People’s National Congress regime.

That the President Donald Ramotar Government has released this report is to clear the air on the many questions, but particularly vituperative criticisms that have flowed from diverse quarters, particularly the Parliamentary Opposition as to the disposal of State assets.
What was most obvious about this fusillade of daily unending criticisms was the glaring absence of inquiry into those transactions prior to 1992. But for the record, they were done in a manner that can best be described as unsatisfactory, in so far as methodology was concerned.
This raises the issue as to whether the State received a fair deal. The negotiations between the former government and many of the would-be buyers were secretive, with only some aspects of the conclusions made public. For example, the divestment of the two largest holdings, Guyana Telecommunications Corporations and Demerara Woods, was executed outside of the purview of the Public Corporation Secretariat and the Divestment Unit that were responsible for privatisation matters.
It explains, further, why the PPP/C revamped the programme that they had inherited, and presented one that could stand up to the best standards of scrutiny. This facilitated a thoroughly well balanced programme that is able even to explain the disposal of assets, during the former regime.
An important aspect of this released report, perhaps never before known to the general public, was that many of these entities were completely closed down before privatisation, while some were sold in parts.
For the record, the following entities were  totally or partially privatised mainly through divestment: Guyana Telecommunications Corporation; Guyana Timbers Limited; Demerara Woods Limited; Livestock Development Company Limited(LIDCO); National Paint Company; Guyana Nichimo Limited; Soap and Detergent Limited; Guyana Leathercraft Limited; Guyana Fisheries Limited; Quality Foods Limited; Sijan Plaza; Guyana Rice Milling & Marketing Company; and Sandbach Parker Complex.
At the time of privatisation, eight of these entities were already defunct.