OPPOSITION LEADERS MADE GOOD ON THEIR PROMISE TO THE CORRUPT PPP/C

No anti-money laundering

Bill…Guyana

blacklisted

…warns its members against financial deals with this country

In November 2011, international regulators told the Bharrat Jagdeo administration that the country needed to take steps to ensure that the nation had strong financial regulations.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall

Two years later, the country is still to comply with the necessary measures and as such the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce (CFATF) has essentially blacklisted Guyana. It has also notified its member countries to put counter measures in place when dealing with Guyana’s finances given the risks involved.
The issue centred on the passage of amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act. CFATF then said that these measures should be in place by May 2013.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon explained, last month, that the amendments were fashioned by CFATF and that Guyana had no option. However, for the two years that CFATF   ordered Guyana to get the necessary legislation in place, the administration did nothing.
The CFATF decision taken yesterday will affect payment for oil, family remittances, payment for goods and a host of other transactions that could virtually cripple trade.
The issue has been a hugely troubling one for the administration as the country could see severe backlash from the sanctions that could be imposed by member countries of the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF), including the United States of America.
Guyana has been found to be non-compliant as it relates to addressing its deficiencies in dealing with the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism legislation.
The contentious issue reared its head in April when Government brought the proposed amendments to the law into public focus for the first time. It wanted an immediate vote, but the political Opposition sent it to a Special Parliamentary Select Committee for a review. They claimed that the proposed legislation was deficient.
Six months later, Government, through its chief whip, Gail Teixeira, wrapped up the work of the Committee and sent it back to the House without the Opposition involvement.

President Donald Ramotar

The Opposition promptly voted against the law reforms when the amendments came up for the vote on the main floor of the National Assembly.
When CFATF completed its routine review session in the Bahamas yesterday, it called on its members to consider implementing counter measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks coming from this country.
Guyana will again be reviewed in May next year to see if the deficiencies have been corrected, according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, who would have led a team this week to the Bahamas plenary.
With the news of the country being blacklisted, Government and the Opposition continued pointing fingers at each other over the delays and fallout.
CFATF, in a statement on Guyana to its members, explained that in November 2011, it notified its members that certain deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) will have to be corrected. An action plan with target dates was developed by both Guyana and CFATF to address the deficiencies.
The body, in rendering its decision yesterday, said that as a result of Guyana not meeting the agreed timelines in its action plan, it has recommend counter measures be put in place when transacting business with Guyana
According to CFATF, “Guyana has made efforts to address its deficiencies, however, it has not taken sufficient steps towards improving its AML/CFT compliance regime by failing to approve and implement required legislative reforms.”
Needed measures

Opposition Leader, David Granger

Guyana is required to pass the relevant legislation and implement all the outstanding issues within its action plan, including fully criminalising money laundering and terrorist-financing offences, addressing all the requirements on beneficial ownership, strengthening the requirements for suspicious transaction reporting, international co-operation, the freezing and confiscation of terrorist assets, and fully implementing the UN conventions.
Failure will see the regional body referring the Guyana case to its head, FATF, and its International Corporation Review Group (ICRG).
FATF will have its next plenary meeting in February 2014, and at that meeting, on its own accord and independent of CFATF, can select Guyana for its own review.
Both the Government and the Opposition pointed fingers yesterday at each other for the mess.
On his Facebook page, President Donald Ramotar, fresh from his Sri Lanka trip, blamed the Opposition for the delays.
“It is with great displeasure that I announce that our country has been deemed non-compliant by the CFATF…This comes after the opposition failed to cooperate with government in passing the anti-money laundering legislation. This will have adverse effects on the private sector and the Guyanese people.”
He said that transactions through banks and agencies like Western Union will take more time and inevitably cost more. “The Government will remain steadfast in its approach in resolving this problem.”
Opposition Leader David Granger told reporters yesterday as he made his way to the Parliamentary session that Government, knew that law changes would have had to been made over a decade ago following the United States actions in response to financing of terrorism following the 9/11 attacks.
Granger said that after starving the Financial Intelligence Unit, a body empowered to investigate money laundering of resources and personnel for years, it was only recently that changes were made.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds

Granger said that Government “blundered” by refusing the Opposition to complete its work on in the special select committee
“All is not lost…Our intention now is to go back the National Assembly,” said Granger.
He added that the Alliance For Change (AFC), the other Opposition party in the National Assembly, is of the same view…that the Special Select Committee has to complete its work.
“We take no blame whatsoever. (This is) entirely the fault of Government.”
Teixeira said that the issue is a serious one for Guyana. The Opposition parties should “hang their heads in shame” for voting against the reforms, despite knowing of the deadlines, she added.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds also at the beginning of the parliamentary sitting updated the House on the CFATF decision. He said that Guyana will be severely affected, with the banking and insurance sectors under scrutiny, and will face serious consequences for financial transactions.
It will also impact Government’s provision of goods and services, according to Hinds.
The Prime Minister argued that the defeated Bill was a major part of the measures that had to be implemented. That defeat affected the country’s review this week in the Bahamas.
There may be “worse to come”, if Guyana is not able to put its house in order by February. Other countries have taken years to comply, according to Hinds.
Citibank in the US has already terminated its relationship with its local counterparts, while Trinidad & Tobago in recent weeks started putting measures in place for greater scrutiny of funds emanating from Guyana for the purpose of doing business there

So here we see  the PPP/C's incompetency as explains by Roger Luncheon:

"Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon explained, last month, that the amendments were fashioned by CFATF and that Guyana had no option. However, for the two years that CFATF   ordered Guyana to get the necessary legislation in place, the administration did nothing."

I tell aya this Roger is a Good Black PPP Hindu.

Rev is a Numbers man....

Rev better than Vishnu Bisram...

Rev did de Numbers fuh Jagdeo & Ramotar...

"Fuh every Good Black PPP Hindu"

we got "10,000 Dutty AFC/PNC Indians"

Rev say...Who Vex....Vex

Any aya Question De Rev Numbers?

"

OPPOSITION LEADERS MADE GOOD ON THEIR PROMISE TO THE CORRUPT PPP/C

No anti-money laundering

Bill…Guyana

blacklisted"

Who vex....vex.

Donor nations must probe deeper for corruption- Caribbean professor

• Saturday, 23 November 2013 21:35

Executive Director of National Integrity Action of Jamaica (NIAJ) Professor Trevor Munroe. At left is Transparency International's Coordinator for the Americas, Maximilian Heywood.

Professor of Governance and Politics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Trevor Munroe wants donor countries and agencies to dig deeper to ensure that their taxpayers’ cash is not ending up in the pockets of corrupt politicians.
Munroe, who is also Executive Director of National Integrity Action of Jamaica (NIAJ), also called on Transparency International (TI) to adjust its rules to become a watchdog against corruption in the private sector.

Delivering the feature address at the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc’s (TIGI) 2nd annual fund raising dinner on Friday night, he defined political corruption as “the misuse or the use of entrusted political power and authority for illicit gain more often than not at the expense of the public’s interest.”

 

 

Munroe argued that donor nations must be more enquiring about how their funds are used even at the risk of being accused of meddling in domestic affairs.

 

“Our International Development Partners need to understand that what aid they give to us is coming from their taxpayers under pressure and they have an obligation to ensure that that aid reaches our taxpayers, our people and is not interrupted along the road.

“I need to make it absolutely clear that even at the risk of accusations of interference that their money, their aid, their grant is intended for the people and not for the pockets of the corrupt.

 

Rev say Jagdeo & Ramotar Thiefing....

But that is Ok because they are Indians....

Who Vex...Vex

An NIAJ-commissioned survey had showed that 43 percent of Jamaicans did not believe that greater involvement by donor nations and agencies in determining whether monies were being misappropriated amounted to interference in internal affairs.

 

Those who opposed were 35 percent.

“The point I am making is that in this period of globalisation the corrupt in high places would try and play the nationalist card as they tried in Jamaica,” he said.

 

Reunion of Crime & Corruption Fighters

Moses Nagamootoo, Rupert Roopnarine & Trevor Munroe

in Guyana 22/11/13 at anti-corruption forum

Professor Munroe noted that the United Nations estimated that corruption prevented 30 percent of all development assistance from reaching its final destination.

That, he said, amounted to US$300,000 of every US$1 million which is siphoned off into the pockets of public officials and private persons.

Himself a former politician, the Professor recommended that Transparency International amend its definition to permit as much focus on private sector corruption as is being done on the public sector.

 

He said it was not fair and just for transnational companies to pay fines while remaining rich and wealthy.

“I say to Transparency International: Yes, we need to sustain the focus on public officials, yes we need to look at the abuse of entrusted political authority for illicit gains but we now need to take much more seriously the abuse of market power for personal and private gain by transnational corporations in the way that they have been doing recently,” he said.

He noted that the World Bank in 2004 estimated that US$1 trillion was paid in bribes from private sector to public sector functionaries.

 

He recalled that JP Morgan concluded a US$13 billion settlement with the United States Department of Justice including US$2 billion in fines for improper conduct during the global financial crisis.

 

The British bridge building firm Mabey and Johnson paid a more than 6 million pound sterling fine for pleading guilty for bribing public officials in Ghana, Iraq and Jamaica.

Touching on the wider Caribbean, Professor Munroe noted that several surveys show that people across the region perceive corruption and political corruption as one of the main things wrong in the region resulting in least confidence in political parties.

Building integrity and combating corruption, he said, could be gradually achieved by conducting rapid corruption risk assessments in each CARICOM country.

 

In the case of his native Jamaica, he said an assessment in 2008 had showed that that country had been in “clear and present danger of State capture by criminal or commercial interests.”

 

An alternative option for Guyana, he suggested, could be a national integrity system study to ground anti-corruption activities in a systemic understanding of which are the strong and weak institutions to arrive at priority actions to be targeted.

 

Professor Munroe further recommended that laws be passed to register political parties and campaign financing to provide for disclosure of big donors.

The campaign financing law, he added, should provide for the banning of illegal organisations that give money to political parties and election campaigns.

“The longer we take to plug this and similar loopholes is the more of our people should lose confidence in the rule of law, in the justice system and ultimately in democratic governance,” he said.

He strongly suggested that Guyana press for political party registration and campaign financing in keeping with recommendations made by the Organisation of American States Mission that observed the November 2011 elections.

That mission had, among other things, observed that the system allows for the use of State resources for campaigning.

The UWI academic passionately demanded that Caribbean people easily access campaign financing information about their own countries in the same way they could for the United States and the United Kingdom.

“None of us can know who is giving how much to political parties here in our own Caribbean territories and it is they who exercise power over us- not Obama’s Democratic Party or Romney’s Republican Party.

 

We need to know who is giving how much to who and, therefore, who have the capacity to exert undue influence on whom,” he said to loud applause at the dinner that was held at the Guyana Pegasus.

 

While Munroe noted that the Caribbean was not alone in grappling with corruption, he lamented that in the region there was little or no successful investigation, prosecution and conviction of persons in high places for illicit enrichment.

“In too many CARICOM states, there is regular prima facie evidence pointing to irregular procurement procedures, pointing to bribery payments as well as kick-backs and improper expenditure of public funds,” he added.

 

Professor Munroe further queried why little or no action is being taken to address breaches chronicled in the various Auditor General’s Reports.

 

Among his recommendations is the need for radical institutional reform to build capacity to strengthen anti-corruption laws and institutions and integrity building activity.

“The consequences of continued failure in these regards are grave and serious,” he said, adding that poverty would worsen.

The World Bank says that countries that stamp out corruption can yield a four-fold increase in per capita income and an increase in annual growth rate by two to four percent.

He noted that Global Corruption Barometer 2013 surveyed over 114,000 persons in 107 countries where in most of them the people themselves in the country perceived the political party as the institution most affected by corruption.

 

 Prof . Trevor Munroe of Jamaica

with AFC leaders Nigel Hughes & Khemraj Ramjattan

at last-night's anti-corruption forum at Pegasus, Guyana.

Munroe also referred to the findings a United Nations Development Programme’s 2010 Citizens Security Survey that shows that almost 50 percent of the people in seven countries believe that the justice system is corrupt.

In Jamaica, 70 percent believed so to a low of 34 percent in Barbados shared that view.

 

Related, he said, 52 percent of the people in those countries believe that politically connected criminals go free and 47 percent thought that powerful criminals with money and contacts go free.

Over the last five years, only three CARICOM member nations-Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines- were consistently scoring high on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index as being relatively clean.

The NIAJ Executive Director lauded activities such as TIGI’s fund raising dinners and public awareness messages through the media.

 

He, however, argued that nothing beats grassroots contact. “All of that is good but ultimately you have to go down on the ground, you have to meet the people where they are in their districts and their villages and town halls. Talk with them and hear from them as to what their experience has been and is and that has served us very well and perhaps others in the region can learn from that,” he said.

First Jagdeo & Ramotar tek De House of Israel Thugs to Berbice and say.... aya Berbicians did not vote for us....so we gon tek dem Black Thugs and give them wuk in Freedom House & Office of the President.

Further we gon elect Kwame McCoy a member of the PPP Central Committee right here where Jagan Born...and aya cant do a thing...

 We gon mek Kwame, Bynoe, Lamumba, Hamilton and all Dem other House of Isreal Thugs..... PPP Black Hindu....aya gon got to pooja dem....

If aya want wuk.... yuh must ask dem Black PPP Hindu..... them in charge of hiring at Office of the President & Freedom House

  If aya na learn yet fuh behave... we gon move in de GDF ....to aya Village like in PNC Days

Now .....Black GDF Solders with Guns move into Rose Hall all over de Town.....Aya Berbicians ask fuh this.... 

Soldiers in Rosehall Town on training & Military operations

3 Armed GDF at ever Corner

Demerara Waves

Rev say.....Who Vex....Vex

AFC Berbice leadership recently.

Berbice AFC fighters re-commit to struggle against corruppption.

Moses, David and Dominic grounding with AFC's Essequibo leaders

 

Venezula can tek over de whole Essequibo....But De Army & House of Israel Black Hindus will hold Berbice Hostage 

Berbice Under Seige ...

Dem Black PPP Hindus

will Stop the AFC

The PPP is about to complete yet

another billion dollar raid on State

resources.

 
Dear Editor,
One may ask, what is a government elected to do?  Our primary understanding would be to govern in the national interest for the betterment of all the people; not in the interest of a few. So why is the PPP only fostering the business interest of a small group of people closely aligned to that party? This issue has been studied with much diligence over the years and the Kaieteur News expose captioned “The Heist of Guyana – the Communication Scheme” is just another revelation of how the PPP  hierarchy is about to complete another billion dollar raid on the Treasury to enrich themselves, relatives and friends. They have done this many times before but this is going to be the largest raid ever on the people’s money. It is wrong and we must vehemently condemn it.
The general thrust of owner Glen Lall and editor Adam Harris’ Kaietuer News article “The Heist of Guyana” points us in the right direction – namely, the Jagdeo cabal with the full collaboration of the Ramotar bunch have made plans to retroactively transfer one of Guyana’s greatest and most valuable assets— the wireless telephony spectrum—from the people of Guyana to themselves and friends for a pittance. This is worse than the most outrageous corrupt practice or any highway robberies.
The greatest political act in the history of Guyana was when the PPP was relegated to a minority Government status.  The main causation of that political revolution was the PPP’s gross acts of massive corruption and mal-administration of the affairs of the State, including the whole scale plundering of the people’s resources. Yet, the PPP will not stop such depraved behavior; in fact, they have caught the disease called “kleptocrotitist” meaning the inability to prevent theft from the Treasury. This is a disease that is easily spread among the group and can only be cured by therapeutic help from well qualified and experienced Psychiatrists, most of whom can be found in the developed countries.
The electro-magnetic spectrum is worth billions of dollars (the last estimate was G$24 billion) but yet we find that the PPP is determined to transfer these expensive spectrums for little or nothing to their friends and family through their back door corrupt practices which were perfected by the Jagdeoites.

This spectrum supports businesses in the quad-play sector which constitutes cable businesses, businesses using the broadcast television frequency, radio frequency and the jewel in the crown — the wireless (cellular) telephone frequency. No government in its right mind, except for the PPP would give away such treasured state resources to their friends and relatives for nickels and dimes. As APNU—MP Joseph Harmon rightfully said, “them eyes pass we.”

In 2011, the Jagdeo regime literally gave away the radio and television frequency for absolutely nothing to their friends and family creating the conditions for them to earn billions of dollars at the taxpayer’s expense.  In April 2013, Prime Minister Sam Hinds confirmed that the PPP will not collect fees from two companies in the cable business, both owned and controlled by persons close to former president Jagdeo. Again, more milk and honey for a pittance for the best friends of the PPP.  The fact remains, Jamaica was able to leverage some US$40 million for just one cable license. Score sheet so far -Guyana ZERO; Jamaica US$40 million.

The PPP did not stop there. They wanted total domination of the airwaves in Guyana. While we acknowledged that the drafted telecommunication legislation meets the basic international standards, we are quite disturbed that the PPP cabal, like a thief in the night, inserted the licensing of three PPP aligned telecommunication companies—Quark Communication, E-Networks and Global Technologies—all owned by friends of the former president, again for a pittance. This goes to show how crooked this regime is as they continue to bleed the nation of all its vital resources. This is not what the people had expected when the PPP promised to level the playing field and bring order to the telecommunications industry.
The risks that GT&T and Digicel took, and the investments they have made over the years are enormous and should be respected by the PPP cabal; and this should easily justify their place at the table. However, these three PPP fly by night operators have done very little in terms of investing in technology for the wireless communications network over the years and should not be given licenses for a pittance? What risk did they take?  What investment have they made for the direct benefit of the Guyanese people?
Have they ever built any children hospital like Digicel or paid the billions of dollars in taxes like Digicel and GT&T did over the years? How dare these members of the “Committee for the Re-election of Jagdeo” popularly referred to as the CREEPS, reap the rewards by not taking the appropriate risk and truly investing in the Guyanese people?  Why is the PPP giving away the state’s valuable airwaves frequencies to their rich friends? The only answer is the PPP has taken corruption to its highest level; therefore, we will be forwarding this letter to all the members of CARICOM and to all regional and international communication bodies.
We demand that the PPP cabal rescind their preferential treatment to the three communication companies owned by their friends this telecommunication bill be sent to the select committee for further scrutiny. We also demand that the playing field should be leveled and regularized between GT&T and Digicel first, before any other players are invited to take part in the process. The market place can be opened to all other players by way of a spectrum auction in a regulated manner once it is regularized and they are prepared to pay the fair market value for the available band width.  If the friends of the former President need space on the spectrum, let them compete in a transparent manner like everyone else in the world; they should not be given preferential treatment by the PPP. We strongly opposed this corrupt PPP minority regime for giving their friends and relatives who are the owners of Quark Communication, E-Networks and Global Technologies and to have free access to the state most prized resources. We also called on all Guyanese to revolt against this corrupt regime for such unethical practice.
We say thanks and Glen Lall and Adam Harris of Kaieteur and we salute them for exposing the racketeering and plundering of the state resources by the PPP. They have done their part diligently, so now is the time for the people of Guyana to follow suit. We can no longer stand idle and allow this crooked and immoral regime to commit such blatant crime against the state. We are calling on the majority opposition to use the powers granted to them by the Constitution to investigate this criminal act and surcharge the alleged perpetrators for their twisted ways and warped mentality. This is the time for the opposition to unite and vigorously defend the interest of the people.
Furthermore, the majority Parliamentary opposition must take their responsibility more seriously and design laws in such a way to meet the objective of fostering competition while at the same time securing the best value for money for the people of Guyana. Once this cat is out the bag, there is no opportunity for any future government to roll back this conspiratorial PPP plan and thus if this is not done using best practices, the nation will have opportunity losses to the tune of billions of dollars that will never ever be recovered. Is that a price we as Guyanese are prepared to pay to please the economic oligarchic who controls the PPP? We say no and hope you do as well.

Chandra Deollal, Esq. Mark Dacosta, Dr.Terrence Simon,
 Joycelyn Wilson, Guyatree Balgobin Esq, Aubrey Reteymer,
Noel Moses, Sasenarine Singh, Asha Balbachan, Derrick Arjune, Esq.
Donna Mattho, Asquith Rose, Ricky Bisnauth, Harish S. Singh.

Stabroek News was told by multiple library staff at Parliament that only the Design and Supply of the Co-Generation Plant under the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project (SSMP) made its way to the National Assembly to be deliberated on. The reason given was that this component of the SSMP was being done through a government concessional loan agreement between the finance ministry and the Import-Export Bank of China in January 2005.

• BORAPORK

Guyana is no different to the syndicate that runs North Korea. Nepotism and under the table deals are emptying the treasury and the resources of the country are being stolen and distributed among the elites.

BORAPORK

Had I overseen this project, i would also keep all the documents hidden. This is one of the greatest frauds committed on the people of Guyana and not a single person was fired for this fiasco. Instead more money is being poured into this expanding sinkhole.

BORAPORK

will be another bogus fraud that brazzy and his PPP has cooked up.

These shameless scandals will continue to ooze and the Guyanese people will continue to wince to the next election where they will be forced to vote conscience and get rid of them.

dezetante

The EU should be DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY for our TAXED Euros. Itis heart breaking to see how many young couples have lost their homes because of the Euro crisis, how many taxpayers end up at the food banks and Salvation Army; while Europians are STARVING and HOMELESS EU is PUMPING our money in the Pockets of the Prominent Presumptuous Pirating /Cabal......I wonder if there is some form of CORRUPTION as that of the American visa scandal? KYAAN TRUSS NO-BADDY NOW-ah-DAYS!!!! I cannot imagine that with the Euro crisis, the Europian Union continues to PUMP money into a BOTTOMLESS PIT without ASKING QUESTIONS or HOLDING anyone RESPONSIBLE for Europian taxpayers money

caban

Those document will have to be altered now that questions will be ask

Kaieteur_Canada caban

Or disappear altogeter like the 2000+ court files.

dougla

SN needs some big big excavators like KN to dig deep deep and they will find, evey Tom, Dick and Harryram digging now

Patriot

I know it's hard for you. All the mess have you giddy .

dougla

Since Nov 2011 they digging and only KATAHAR they finding,EH HEy,,,

you damn right since 2011 the PPP digging their own grave and Aunty Dora find a lot more than Katahar.

De amalia falls skinup find nuff nuff skullduggery.

De thiefin at GPL is being skin up daily.

De thiefin at GuySuCo is being skin up daily

De Thiefin all ovah de country getting skin up.

dezetante

Dugs yu shore yu aint gat dem PAY-pas dis?

INDRANIE SINGH

The little red PPP COMMUNIST DICTATORS are doing the exact thing that the big red COMMUNIST REPRESSIVE dictators are doing in China.The irony though is that the PPP and their paid soupie Cuban educated blaggers have the timerity to use the word DEMOCRACY when referring to the the Marxist PPP.

long_legs

they are a stupid bunch but not as stupid as we might want to believe!

all their wheelin'-and-dealin' is cloaked in secrecy and they expend a lot of energy covering their track. however, we will know sometime down the line if they did a good job or not.

All about thiefin

Thiefin is all about thiefin and mo thiefin and more thiefin.

dezetante

Is that the reason why the President got "SICK?" and could not have attended the dinner at the Pegassus? I am so sorry for that man. Jag-D-oh Put-in Done-al pon share PUCK-ah-terry

caban

Spending US 200,000,000 with out any proper documentation and boasting about being transparent, no wonder it had to be repaired and continue to be repaired at the taxpayers expense just after it was handed over, if any one buys an item for more than US $100.00 in most develop and developing countries they are offered warranty but spending US$ 200,000,000 has none.

dezetante

Over here a fifteen euro telephone, water-cooker or a rice steamer for 20 euros has a guarantee for two years from any recognized shop. I hope that those who swollow from the cup that is FULL & RUNNING OVER with CORRUPTION will SOBER UP some day before the next election

long_legs

naah, the soup drinkers turn out here to call everyone pncites if you criticize their honest and beloved government for things such as this!

i cannot think about where in the world such delusional people will come from except guyana.

long_legs

either they darn well cannot run the country or they are very much a crafty and cunning bunch skimming off of the backs of the guynese people.

either ways they bode unwell for the country!

H_ali

so the Guyanese taxpayers do not know who benefitted the most from this US$200 million scam! than you have the PPP sheeples chanting for the rat third term when in fact he is the de facto president, the duck is merely the sitting duck

wtf2011

The Lapdog members of Parliament are too weak to mount an inquiry into the Skeldon Taxpayer Funded Project!

dezetante

Dem 2 WEAK or dem KOLLECK 2?

Ghost Contracts

Ghost Recycling Company, Now we gat Ghost contracts at GuySuCo.

Big important spend like that and the people of Guyana cannot see the contract what utter bulls--t is this SN?

PAC makes headway in quest for

Procurement Commission

A matter which has been on the agenda of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is finally seeing some sort of progress, as the body has started the deliberations on the nominees for the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).

Carl Greenidge

The PPC has attracted much attention over the past few months as members of the Opposition, particularly the Alliance for Change (AFC), expressed that they wanted the Commission to be established before lending support to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill.
The Auditor General’s 2012 report has also urged the Ministry of Finance to comply with the law and establish the Public Procurement Commission.
Discussions were stalled for sometime as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, to date, has not submitted its nominees.
On Monday last, members of the PAC decided that it was time to move forward. At the meeting, they discussed the criteria and process of assessing applicants for senior posts in the Audit Department and the Public Procurement Commission.
According to the PAC’s Chairman, Carl Greenidge, the Presidential Advisor on Empowerment, Odinga Lumumba, attempted to continue the suspension of discussions on the PPC.  A call was then made by Trevor Williams of the AFC, to simply vote on the names received by the Committee thus far.
Members of the Opposition coalition, A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) , also supported the call to move forward.
APNU’s Volda Lawrence, who is the former Chairperson of that committee, later suggested that the Chairman be asked to undertake discussions with the three political parties in order to resolve the issue.
While Greenidge agreed with the call for a resolution, he did not accept Lumumba’s suggestion for Government to introduce Cabinet’s no-objection clause.
Greenidge then reminded members in attendance of Article 212 of the Constitution which is clear about the structure of the Public Procurement Commission and made no provision for the “kind of Cabinet veto Lumumba sought on behalf of the PPP.”
Greenidge said, “The matter would be best dealt with at the Plenary of the House.” He also recommended that the meeting be focused on the specific tasks it had been assigned.

Odinga Lumumba

The committee then agreed to discuss the process by which the nominees would be selected and the selection criteria weighed, whether or not the People’s Progressive Party/Civic submitted its list of nominees, and leave for the moment the actual list of names.

Broadcast Authority was premature

with licence for Telecor

 
Days before it formally received its radio licence to operate five frequencies, Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc. appointed four directors to ensure that more than 51 per cent of the voting powers on the board would be Guyanese residing in Guyana.
This made the company fully compliant with the requirements under the Broadcast Act.
But even before the company satisfied this criterion, its licence was already

Dharamchand Depoo receives the radio licence for Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc from GNBA Chairperson, Bibi Shadick

approved by the Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA).
Those that became directors are Daramchand Depoo, an Attorney-at-Law in Corentyne, Berbice, Ryan Basdeo, Khemraj Narain and Michael George.
This was done on June 21, 2013.
However, Chairperson of the GNBA, Bibi Shadick, two days earlier, on June 19, 2013, had announced that 24 licences (Radio/TV/Cable) were ready to be handed out and all that remained for the operators to do was pay their fees.
But Telecor had not satisfied the criterion for the voting rights residing in more than 50 per cent of the directors resident in Guyana. This meant that the GNBA had already approved the radio licence for Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc., even before it became fully compliant as it relates to the requirements for directors.
When Bharrat Jagdeo in 2011 approved Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc, for a radio licence, the company had a sole shareholder in the person of Ruth Baljit, a Guyanese national who is also a US Citizen, and resides in the United States. The Company Secretary was Omkarananda Lochan, the Permanent Secretary in Robert Persaud’s Natural Resources Ministry. He has since resigned.
The Broadcast Act requires that 51 per cent of the voting members of the Board of Directors be Guyanese nationals, residing locally.
Baljit is the sister of Robert Persaud, and was at the time the sole owner of the company.
She continues to reside in the United States.
The other Director, Kamini Persaud, is former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s niece.
This publication understands that the company had applied for a licence and when it was shortlisted, it was written to, to put its house in order.
Shadick, in November last year, called in all operators and told them that they would have to re-apply for licences, be it radio or TV. She informed the operators that they would have to ensure that their companies are incorporated, thus making them shareholding companies with the voting rights on its board of directors to be at least 51 per cent residing in Guyana.
Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc. is a company that was incorporated by Attorney-at-Law, Jaya Manickchand, in 2009. The company was incorporated with 500,000 shares. Each annual return filed lists Baljit, a US citizen, as the sole shareholder.
Kaieteur News understands, too, that the company was struck off the Registrar’s Companies List for failing to file annual returns. This was denied by the company. But records show that it was restored to the Companies List in October, days before Jagdeo would have approved it for five radio frequencies.
Dharamchand Depoo, the former Company Secretary, now director, uplifted the Licence for Baljit.
Several prominent, independent media entities including Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, CNS 6, WRHM 7, RBS 13, Capitol News, HBTV 9 and GWTV 2 were all bypassed by Jagdeo. He approved frequencies to a number of others, but only allowed them one frequency each, thereby limiting the range to which they can broadcast. Those with multiple frequencies included the ruling party, and Ramroop’s radio.
The former President has also come under criticism for granting cable television licences to two companies – E-Networks Inc. and Quark Communications Inc. Both companies have Directors and shareholders with close links to him.

PPP Top Cheese

PPP Executive Robert Persaud

and House Of Isreal Black Thug Philip Bynoe

Releasing PPP 5 Year Plan (2012-2017)
at PPP HeadQuarters -

Freedom House on Oct 21 2011

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....nch-manifesto-today/

Anti Money Laundering Laws…APNU

was right to force a review by the

Select Committee – Chris Ram

“The PPP/C was unreasonable and inflexible”

Government of Guyana knew since 2011 that the 2009 Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act was deficient, as was the 2000 Act it replaced.
This view is held by Financial Analyst and Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram, in his recent writings, published on his website www.chrisram.net
According to Ram, although this was known, the government did nothing until it was too late.  Ram opined that the Parliamentary Opposition was right to force a review by the Select Committee but it then lost a good opportunity to achieve tangible results.

Financial Analyst, Christopher Ram

“All the AFC seems to have wanted was a Procurement Commission, even at the expense of a proper statutory and institutional framework and the APNU wanted a ‘good bill’ but failed to make any concrete proposals to achieve that,” Ram said.
He said that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) on the other hand was prepared to concede nothing. “No Procurement Commission, no removal of unconstitutional provisions in the substantive Act and no concession on the existing failed model of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).”
Ram noted that although the Opposition might have been irresponsible, the PPP/C was unreasonable and inflexible.
He said that the consequence of that lethal combination is that our country can now become an “International Pariah”.
Ram further stressed that fixing the law itself is not insurmountable and with the will and flexibility, there is no reason why these cannot be satisfactorily addressed within a very short period.
He did posit that that the technical exercise will have to be matched by the willingness to tackle corruption and crime in all their manifestations, strengthening the Guyana Police Force, the Director of Public Prosecutions Office and the Courts.
Ram said that it was time for the Commissioners to be appointed to the Integrity Commission.
He advocated for the Public Procurement Commission to be established, the introduction of the long-promised whistleblower legislation and the appointment of an Ombudsman.
“Absent a proper institutional framework, all the legislation in the world will be completely ineffective,” Ram noted.
Moreover Ram said that while the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) has drawn attention to deficiencies in the Anti Money Laundering act, there are other weaknesses which it appears to have overlooked.
Ram explained that section 2 (2) (1) of the act is clearly out of place. According to Ram, some of the freezing and forfeiture provisions seem to collide with fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Moreso, he said, the provisions regarding the admission of otherwise inadmissible evidence, standard of proof and closed hearings do not seem to accord with the constitutional rights of citizens.
Apart from meeting the CFATF requirements to bring Guyana in compliance with its obligations under regional and international regime to deal with money-laundering and terrorism financing, the Act clearly has serious defects.
The very structure of the Act, the role and location of the FIU and the appointment of a Director who seems totally out of his depth in terms of enforcement of the Act, all suggest a feeble, cosmetic attempt to address money laundering, said Ram.
“This state of affairs should not be allowed to continue…Money laundering has not only social and economic implications – distorting competition, driving out legitimate businesses and fuelling tax evasion – but it also has implications for crime…The proceeds of corrupt transactions have to be laundered while the guns brought into Guyana and used to kill, are often financed by laundered money.”

Ram the abuser has zero credibility. This report is like a roll of toilet paper.

No matter what you labelled Mr Ram as, he is still more credible than the Corrupt and thieving PPP/C:

The PPP risks being labeled Guyana’s worst government

Dear Editor, At the risk of being labeled the worst PPP government in the political history of Guyana, we feel compelled to report that nearly everywhere in Guyana; people are voicing the strong feeling that the PPP is going to lose the next general election, come mid or late 2016. And we must say our first reaction to that is it would be a relief to the nation not to have to put up with the arrogant smirks we keep seeing on the faces of some Cabinet ministers who are clearly deluded into believing that they are in office for life. But clearly the writing is on the wall for this corrupt PPP regime and we have decided to let the cat out of the bag. The process that the people started in the 2011 election that led to a minority PPP government must be completed in the next election cycle by voting the PPP out of office. Of course, simply making such a prediction could very well have the effect of triggering a serious thought in convincing many now reluctant voters to come out and vote against this decadent PPP regime. The PPP can no doubt rely on its tribal base to come out in full support in the next general election but whether that will be enough to make the PPP victorious is doubtful. Their tribal base is dwindling due to overseas migration and others are marching toward the other parties. The youths are fed up with the propaganda, distortions and untruths by the do-nothing PPP cabal who seem to think that they can squander the taxpayers’ money at will on shady projects. For certain, the minority PPP regime record in Parliament since winning the November 2011 general election has been very bleak and not at all promising. They lost the Amalia Falls project followed by the loss of the Anti-Money Laundering Bill. Their frantic defense of both the Amalia Falls and the Anti-money Laundering Bill was highly suspicious, to say the least. Earlier in the year, they lost $30 billion from the budget as a result of their clownish debate in Parliament. The PPP is a very confused party and its leader’s sluggish pace and lack of administration skills have made it extremely difficult for the regime to get anything done in or out of Parliament. Mind you, in addition to those losses, it has become fairly obvious that public sentiment about the Government has taken a serious turn for the worst since the election as a result of the number of corrupt practices, armed robberies, slip-ups, faux pas, poor judgment, mal-administration, and sheer incompetence, all of which all adds up to bad governance. The most recent example stemmed from the fact that Dr. Roger Luncheon was forced to tell the nation that the Minister of Social Affairs lied about her daughter’s involvement with the GHOST recycling company, Natural Globe Inc.  Another is the Minister of Agriculture saying that the 14 drainage pumps from India had arrived in Guyana and Dr. Luncheon immediately told the nation that is not true, the pumps have not arrived. The opposing public view is that the PPP cabal is now selling themselves as present-day Messiahs, able to rescue the poor and the working class from their present predicament, a predicament that they have fuelled throughout a well-orchestrated economic program for their rich friends and their media brainwashing, propaganda, distortions and untruths. They are trying to play the game differently but with the same players and although they believe that they are doing a brilliant public relations campaign, as a nation, the people will not tolerate another spell of their mismanagement of the economy, high crime rate and massive corrupt practices. Buckling under their own weight, the PPP regime has turned to its favorite bogus strategy of blaming the opposition for their failures especially the Minister of Legal Affairs blaming the opposition budget cuts for the meager 5% wage increase for the workers. They have also blamed the garbage pile-up in the city and the flooding on the budget cuts by the opposition. But the truth is, no one will believe their propaganda since they do not have the political will to do anything except to use the state resources to fatten their pockets and those of their relatives and friends. Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh