Should workers vote PPP come 2011?

Aug 29, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Any political analyst can find hundreds of reasons to answer this question, but in this letter I shall focus on one pertinent fact as stated by President Jagdeo when he said, “A probe into CLICO would serve no purpose”.
As a public policy position, President Jagdeo stated he “believes that such an investigation would only disclose what has already been established through an audit of the company”.
To expose the shallowness of this regime, I support my position with some facts. What is an audit? An audit is a process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence relating to the reliability and integrity of financial information. The approach adopted is a key factor in determining the outcome of the audit.
With the unfolding “soap opera” at CLICO, a forensic audit was more relevant in addition to the standard audit since the standard audit cannot arm the regime with the information on what is the extent of the financial hole, where we can track the money and who is accountable for this mess.
Was a forensic audit done at CLICO Mr. President and was it laid in the National Assembly? Obviously not and thus it is very unfortunate that His Excellency came to these conclusions with inadequate evidence to support him, but in now  a patented style, the regime makes it up as it goes along, with limited analysis behind the decisions.
A Forensic Audit of CLICO could have provided better answers as to whether an alleged fraud had taken place (there is a perception by many that fraud took place and the state is an alleged accessory to that fraud), the quantum of monies missing, but more importantly it would identify those involved so that they can be held responsible. The Guyanese workers have a vested interest in bringing closure to this case since they have lost billions by way of the NIS investments in CLICO.
If one is to follow what is happening with CLICO (Bahamas), one would clearly ascertain from the liquidator Mr. Gomez that “CLICO (Bahamas) was used as a cash cow to divert money into real estate investments in Florida”.
One is left to wonder, why President Jagdeo is willing to allegedly compromise his already alleged tainted credibility over this CLICO affair by denying the workers the right to factual information.
The time has arrived where the workers of Guyana cannot trust his judgment on this issue, since it is his regime that allegedly made the decision to invest the NIS money in CLICO without consulting the workers. Thus it is his regime that is allegedly responsible for the parlous state of the workers’ pension funds where the NIS has more liabilities than realisable assets (there is a paper asset on the NIS balance sheet called “Investment in CLICO” which must be impaired in accordance with IAS 36).
If anyone is to conduct a risk based audit of the NIS, they will find that this company is insolvent and bankrupt since it has a negative equity position. So the Guyanese public must understand why President Jagdeo is against a probe.
He does not want to be straight up with the Guyanese workers that CLICO will more likely repay about 10 cents for every dollar invested by NIS and the workers and taxpayers will have to fund the gap of 90 cents for the billions lost by the Jagdeo regime.
The President is boastful that he tracked every cent of the money but this statement is furthest from the truth as Mr. Gomez has exposed. There is no money to be had at this point in time and even if there are monies to be had, it will be tied up in court for years to come. Thus this boast from the President is nothing more than hearsay and idle talk. His inexperience at international finance and insolvency proceeding has exposed his alleged lack of understanding of how monies are collected in a liquidation and how a multi-national operation works.
What the Jagdeo regime is doing, is buying time to allow for continuous NIS contributions to rebuild the asset base of the balance sheet, while stifling the cash payout to the deserving pensioners and other beneficiaries.
I have been told of the scores of retirees from the sugar belt that have been told they have not paid their required amount of contribution even though they have worked legally for donkey years at GuySuCo. It was only after they sought legal advice and produced their pay slips did they get what is justly theirs. This is a living example of the centralized oppression of the working class by the Jagdeo regime.
According to the Institute of Governance, Good Governance is the “practice of how a government relates with the citizens, how they interact with the citizens and how decisions are taken for the citizens”. Was there any participation of the workers of Guyana in this material decision to invest billions of dollars of their money in CLICO Guyana? Was a sensible risk analysis done to ensure that the strategic vision of the investment was best for the workers of Guyana?
This CLICO “soap opera” clearly demonstrate we have a reckless regime with little respect for accountability. If we are to venture into the realms of transparency, we will find that the workers of Guyana had zero access to any information on this investment until the independent media broke the story. The basic minimum that any good government would have done was to at least advise the National Assembly of its decision to invest material sums of the workers money into CLICO, but this was not done because of the regime’s administrative laziness. They just were not interested in preparing a justification document to support their ill-conceived actions.
The well being and future of workers in Guyana is now compromised because of this decision to invest their funds in CLICO. This oppressive decision has clearly demonstrated that some pigs are more equal that some, Animal Farm style and thus there is no need to justify their decision. Well the members of Animal Farm, who were condemned to be “pigs of a lesser god” by the Jagdeo regime, will have their say in 2011 and they will have to carefully consider the AFC decision to not join with the PNCR and the PPP as a foundation for their future.
For those sugar workers who remain loyal to the ideals of Cheddi Jagan, it is time to wake up. If they are to evaluate the main horses in the race in 2011, the AFC is the party that best represents the Jagan ideals. The power players in the PPP have buried all of Dr Jagan’s teaching permanently and have actual quite comfortably gravitated to a Burnham style of Government with a Burnham constitution.
If one is to peruse all the actions and decisions of the Jagdeo regime, they will clearly see Burnham is alive and well in present day Guyana. They have to make that hard decision to save the country from today’s Burnham and making that paradigm shift to the AFC to regain grounds and rights that were lost since 1999. Sugar workers with a clear conscious must understand that a vote for the AFC is not a vote for the PNC. Sugar workers must exercise that protest vote against the regime that has lost billions of their dollars.
In concluding, we must move our Government to a principle-based one that governs for the people, not themselves. This CLICO “soap opera” has clearly demonstrated that the Jagdeo regime does not understand the concept of fairness, equity, justice, integrity, honesty, human dignity, service to the people, excellence in service, and patience in public policy.
It is time for the sugar workers to vote on issues and the way the people’s affairs are managed.
Sasenarine Singh

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