Only in this Place

Sep 17, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Life in Guyana is exciting and incident-packed. I can hardly think of another country whose domestic politics generate so much interest locally than the politics of Guyana.
Hardly a day goes by without some revelation that rivets public attention. This is quite remarkable considering the small population in Guyana.
I guess this explains the constant preoccupation that persons in the Diaspora have with local politics. This preoccupation can be explained with regards to the disconnectedness and alienation that is felt by Guyanese living in a huge country as immigrants. But can equally be explained by the fascination that politics and other developments back home hold. There is hardly a dull moment in Guyana.
Take for example, yesterday’s newspapers. The Peeper picked up the Kaieteur News and observed a letter titled “Revelations in the Simels trial being grasped for its political value.” The letter was signed by one Aron Smith.
Almost word for word that letter was lifted from a Peeping Tom column entitled, “People’s Memories must not be Convenient”, and published in the Kaieteur News of August 14, 2009. Someone writing under the name Aron Smith has reproduced with only minor modifications, the entire column and submitted it for publication in this newspaper.
But if you think this was interesting its gets better. In yesterday’s Stabroek News, there is a letter written again by an Aron Smith which was entitled, “The US government does not carry out meticulous checks on all applications for export licenses.” The letter also is also a reproduction, with only minor changes, of a Peeping Tom column published on August 4 and entitled, “On Whose Behalf.”
Someone writing under the name Aron Smith lifted wholesale two Peeping Tom columns and reproduced them as two separate letters each appearing on the same day in two different newspapers. Now tell me, where else but in Guyana would something like this happen on the same day.
This is what makes Guyana such a fascinating yet tragic place to live in. There is always something to excite the public interest, always something unusual happening in this great land. What a fun place to live in!
In going through yesterday’s newspaper I observed that the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) had funded the construction of a hospital in Lethem which was reopened. Development banks such as the CDB and the IDB have greatly assisted the people of Guyana by funding projects that reach down to the common man.
Financial institutions such as the CDB and the IDB should continue to come to the assistance of the people of Guyana. But these banks should also insist on greater transparency and openness in the award of government contracts, including contracts which are not funded by them.
While the CDB and the IDB would have their own oversight bodies examining the contracts that they fund, they should insist, given the enormous resources that they have pumped into Guyana, on the reform of the tendering process in Guyana.
One of the immediate reforms necessary is the outlawing of the waiving of the regulations of the National Procurement Board for contracts, except of course in emergencies, when such waivers may become necessary because of the exigencies of the situation.
There have been calls, also, by the opposition, for the bringing into being of the Procurement Commission. The international funding agencies have an interest in ensuring that this Commission is put in place and is operational since within the context of the Procurement Act, such a Commission will insulate the award of government contracts from political approvals. There is no reason why this Commission should not now be demanded as part of reforms to enhance greater transparency and accountability.
The hands of the international community are not tied. They have a huge financial interest in terms of their own lending and grants to Guyana. They can use this to exert influence to bring about reforms. The contracts they award have to go through a process of international competitive bidding. These institutions therefore should insist that greater efforts be made to have the Procurement Commission implemented and they should also allow for greater scrutiny by the media of those projects which they fund, especially during the course of the project cycle.
The media has an important role in helping to support these institutions in ensuring that the benefits of their investments reach the ordinary citizen. The media can assist in exposing wrongdoing and substandard work. They must be seen as important partners by these international banks and thus the media should be facilitated with greater information about the contracts which these international banks are funding.

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