NO ABEE WANT MORE INFO.
NOTHING TO HIDE - Gov’t releases report detailing ALL transactions handled by Privatisation Unit & NICIL | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Written by Nadine Sanchara | |
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 00:18 | |
- from 1993 to November 2012. ‘There is no cloud over any of the evaluations of any privatisation transaction…and government is willing to address any questions on any specific valuations’ – Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh MINISTER of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh said there “is no cloud over any of the evaluations of any privatisation transactions” handled by the Privatisation Unit (PU) and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL) over the past decade. And to hammer home his point, Dr. Singh said government is willing to address “any questions on any specific valuations.” ![]() Winston Brassington ![]() Dr Ashni Singh
When asked about third party verification of the information contained in the report, Dr. Singh reiterated that a lot of the information contained in the report is already publicly available. In addition, he mentioned that all of the entities are themselves subject to audit. According to him, whether it is a government institution or a public operation, as long as it is a public sector entity, it has to be audited. “Each one of those public sector entities would be subject to audit, so at the particular time of the transaction concerned, those transactions would have been audited as part of those entities,” he related. The minister further advised that the government welcomes and encourages open and free debate on any issue of public interest, pointing out that in the very studio where the press conference was held, they had participated in a series of debates on the issues of corruption and openness and transparency in government. He reiterated that the government continues to have no difficulty with open and frank discussion on any issue of national public interest or importance. However, he said that with the placing of the information contained in the privatisation report within the public domain, it is hoped that there would be more informed comment. “Rather than some of the resort to sensationalism and misrepresentation that sometimes passes off as analysis and sometimes are made to pass off as objective commentary, what we would like to see and what we would encourage is objective, fact-based discussion and commentary and analysis and debate,” he posited. Dr. Singh also told reporters that the information presented in the report represents “a very important compilation of records” which is the result of a very robust system of record keeping being maintained. According to him, it represents a formidable institution of architecture that had to be put in place from the earlier days of the privatisation transactions to first, ensure that there were accountable systems and second, that there was good record keeping. “…you have transactions now going back to 1993 which is a long time ago. It is to the credit of the Privatisation Unit that we are able to compile this document with this information and it bears testimony to the fact that this government has ensured the existence of such systems, that is to say systems that have documented our public transactions and is committed to placing that information in the public domain,” the Finance Minister stressed. NO QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED Yesterday’s news conference also saw questions being raised about, among other things, information not being made available to opposition Members of Parliament on the privatisation of the Sanata Complex. Minister Singh stated emphatically that by the end of the 9th Parliament, there was not a single question raised during that Parliament that was left unanswered by Government Ministers and this could be verified through the Parliament records. He challenged the reporter who posed the question to name a specific question or instance which was not answered. Unfortunately, the minister noted that this could not be done. Pointing to the Privatisation Report, Minister Singh said it was the result of a very robust system of record-keeping and a comprehensive attempt representing a formidable effort by the Privatisation Unit. On the charge of ‘persons close to’ the government being involved in transactions and alleged shady deals, Minister Singh stated unequivocally, that each transaction could be laid bare in detail without exemption regardless of who is involved. The Finance Minister stated unapologetically that issues and questions raised by the opposition are politically conjured and emphasised that at no point in Guyana’s history has the operations of government been as open and transparent as they are now. Minister Singh also noted that every single citizen, regardless of their friendships or political persuasions and affiliation has a constitutional statutory protected right to participate and invest in the nation’s economy which is a free one. Nevertheless, government’s obligation is to ensure that for all transactions, there are open, transparent accountable systems in place which can withstand scrutiny and this has been accomplished. | |
Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 00:25 |