Oversized – Why does Government own businesses?

Jan 18, 2009 Peeping Tom

---

Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA
Chairman, Vision Guyana

INTRODUCTION:

There is a great concern that despite all the international reports validating corruption in our government, missing dollars in ministries and the president’s office, our poor ratings on our economic conditions and government-controlled entities, government still owns more than half of our nation’s GDP in state-run businesses.

What is more alarming is that there are few public financial statements on these companies; there are no major public audits done on the accounting books for GPL, GWI, GuySuCo, NCN and other state-run entities.

Why should government run their own Television and Radio Stations? Only in communist countries you find government in the media business.

When a business does not have to show a profit and has an unlimited budget with our taxpaying dollars, we can expect the mismanagement and corruption that is evident all around.

DUPLICATIONS & MISMANAGEMENT:

1. Guyana Rice Development Board: What exactly do they do? What is the ROI for maintaining this albatross of the former administration years? How is the GRDB different from the responsibilities of the Trade Ministry? Could the functions from these two organizations be consolidated? We need to eliminate the non functional government organizations and spend the money on infrastructure projects through small businesses so that more jobs are created.

2. NCN, Chronicle and GINA: Classic examples of government waste of precious funds are these entities. Most of the feed for NCN and Chronicle comes from another Government agency, GINA. The public is not privy to the vast amount spent in running this business using our tax dollars. We have no clue if it is profitable, which most likely it is not, as they will spend whatever it takes to pump the propaganda out to us the citizens.

3. GWI is another major mismanaged entity. Why isn’t this thing privatised? A lot has been published recently on the failures of GWI.

4. Carifesta X: The government spent millions on Carifesta X which has come and gone without any major impact on our tourist industry. Had we predicted the current weather pattern and spent our precious dollars on irrigation management such as portable pumps that can be placed on rigs that roll around the country, this would have at least been able to alleviate some of the pain that farmers and citizens are feeling today.

5. GuySuCo: Sacked: The poster child of mismanagement, failure of the Board of Directors, failure of the Minister of Agriculture, and failure of the President. What has this government done to prove that they can run a robust and large entity such as Guyana Sugar Corporation?

Let them show us how this company has improved financially since this government has been in office. Where are the financials? GuySuCo has been selling a lot of land in the past few years; where is the money going and are they reporting to Parliament what these sales are and to whom they have sold these properties?

Where are the proceeds from GuySuCo being spent? This is an entity of fraud that must be investigated at the highest level of the board as well as who gives the order. Not the poor managers that have been sacked for following directions from the powers.

6. GPL is an entity which refused to lower our rates after the fuel prices dropped. There is no visibility into this company, money is being spent, millions at Christmas to rent generators, where are they now?

Who is auditing this company that gets our money TWICE. One from our taxpaying dollars, and then from the high charges we pay. When the President says the government has to subsidize, guess where the money is coming from, us. They make it sound like they are doing us a favour.

THE BUCK STOPS AT THE TOP:

The major problem lies in the top management of our nation. Let us stop blaming the management and the directors of these entities. As a CEO, if my company does poorly, it is my responsibility. Firing the entire management will prove that I was a failure, yet the President has no shame to accept responsibility, much less his top ministers.

I personally like the President; he is very social and had lots of promises for our nation. Sadly, he and his administration have failed us. Many of us have tried to help, lobby and give advice. Many of us have offered our professional services only to be told that only the party loyalists are allowed in, regardless of their qualifications.

The President has the audacity to travel to the European countries to sell rainforest preservation. One must wonder if he is in his right mind.

What tangible guaranteed investment is he creating by doing so? How many jobs is that going to create? What he is looking for is another handout; there is no creativity, vision, innovation or leadership from our President. Where are the multiples from embarking on such a (as we called it in the military, a boondoggle) mission.

The President is so distracted that his biggest concern and task for the police force is to investigate his fake Facebook account. Flying to Libya and begging them to create an embassy here in Guyana that will employ a security guard and a driver; really Mr. President?

How about begging the American, British and Canadian governments to fund drug fighting apparatus and training in the country? Ah, they cannot do that because then the economy will really go bunkers since the drug money is holding up over half of our GDP.

CONCLUSION:

I have highlighted many government-run businesses that are in major trouble, that use our tax dollars to keep afloat and then turn around and charge us for the services.

We can continue to talk about these failures, or we can continue to expose the corruption and mismanagement. We should not be afraid to stand up, given the fact that it is our money that is being used to hold these entities together. Our money is being squandered.

Some will say that we are being too harsh on the government, if you are one of them, then you must not be paying GWI, GPL or VAT. If you are, then you know what the pain feels like to watch our money wasted and mismanaged.

Step up and be counted; let us focus on the G, let us focus on Guyana by ensuring we put the right team in place to manage our nation, eliminate our oversized and mismanagement entities, and ensure economic freedom for our people. It is time we believe in our own Guyanese Dream of a prosperous nation where all of us are beneficiaries of our nation’s resources. Until next time: “Roop”.

Send comments to peter.ramsaroop@gmail.com or www.visionguyana.com

---

---