WHEN THE TIME COMES!

Mar 18, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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At last Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly, questions tabled by the Alliance for Change and relating to three major contracts signed under the Jagdeo administration, were expected to have been brought up, so that answers could have been provided.
The questions related to the proposed Marriott Hotel, the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project and the contract for the extension of the Timehri runway. All three of these contracts were controversial and have been kept under a crypt of secrecy by the government.
For years, the government had been sidestepping inquiries from the media about two of these projects. It took a long time for the media to obtain answers as to just who were the principal investors in the hotel project.
In the case of the Amaila Falls project, it has been rocked with controversy, beginning with the tender to build the road to the site of the proposed hydroelectric plant. Then questions began to arise about the cost of the project. There are still many unanswered questions.
It got worse when it came to the contract to extend the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri. This contract was signed behind the backs of the Guyanese people.
The government did not even have the decency to inform the Guyanese people about the contract which was only discovered when a report appeared on the Internet about it.
It is these and other contracts that cost the PPP its falling out with the public. The PPP lost a great deal of popularity. Today it has no majority in parliament because of the attitude displayed under the Jagdeo administration, including the stubborn refusal to provide details about these three deals.
The AFC wanted answers to these deals and they tabled their questions. Recognizing that they had to provide answers and wishing to not allow the AFC to take credit, the government moved to release the contracts just one day before the sitting in parliament.
It was a good move, a smart move by the Ramotar administration, but what was significant was that the only contracts that were made public were the ones about which the AFC were going to ask questions in parliament. It is therefore fair to assume that the release of the contracts were as a direct result of the fact that the matter would have been raised in parliament.
The PPP had refused before this to make public the contracts but to his credit, since Donald Ramotar assumed office, investors have been showing greater respect for the people of Guyana.
One can understand that the government may not have wished for the release of the contracts to be seen as a victory for the AFC. As such, it opted to release the contracts to the media rather than having to be subjected to the humiliation of having to provide details through parliamentary questioning. Of course, the government could have avoided answering the questions in parliament, but this would have been politically disastrous for them. As a result, they had no choice but to release the contracts, but it is understandable that they would want to make it look as if they acted without pressure.
However, why the double-talk? Why is the Minister of Finance going to make a long-winded and never- ending presentation about the government being always committed to transparency? Does he really believe that the people of Guyana are going to take him seriously after the experience of the Jagdeo administration? Come on, Mr. Minister!
And why on the other hand does he then go on lambasting some in the media and the opposition as being against these projects? If your government is so committed, as you claim to transparency, why did it take so long to release these contracts, and why having being forced to release the contracts to the media would you go on a tirade against some in the media and the opposition?
If the government is so committed to transparency, then you do not have anything to worry about.
How come the government held a briefing with the opposition parties during which they expressed satisfaction and yet the next day there are reports in the media about the opposition being out to stymie these projects? How come on the one hand there is talk about working with the opposition and then on the other hand they are being lambasted?
The president needs to have a chat with the Minister of Finance and ask him to “cool off” a bit. He is getting too “worked up“. He has done the right thing. He has released the contracts. They are being studied. The time will come when the government will have to answer about what was signed. And since the government claims to have been always so transparent, then there should be no problems in answering those questions. When the time comes!

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