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Prem Misir’s utterances on NCN fiasco sufficient to justify budget cuts

Jul 05, 2012 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
The KN headline titled; ‘Monies still unaccounted for at NCN’ dated 07/03/12 is a piece of reading that I recommend to all of Guyana, especially those who questioned the rationale behind the budget cuts initiated by the parliamentary opposition.
In this article it was reported that the Chairman of the Board of Directors at NCN, Dr. Prem Misir, admitted that it was the budget cuts which were responsible for the initial probe into possible financial irregularities into NCN’s financial activities when the company was taking stock of its accounts.
A direct quote from this article reads; “He did remind that it was the budget cuts that sparked the initial probe when NCN was taking stock of its accounts”.
Without attempting to dilute all the other critical information Misir disclosed to KN, I do believe that this particular, apparent, confession might be the most critical piece of information exposed to the public and which should help to guide any reasonable political conversation with respect to the importance of the budget cuts.
The legitimate question to be asked now is whether or not the budget cuts, especially cuts to NCN’s budget, are justified?
I am sure that all right-thinking Guyanese would answer this question in the affirmative, as none of us would have preferred to have corruption persist while the ordinary workers and the people of Guyana suffer as a consequence of having the nation’s financial resources mismanaged, unaccounted for or siphoned off into personal accounts of company executives. I believe the staff of NCN, whom I believed have been coerced to protest these cuts, will now have a greater appreciation of why these cuts were necessary.
I congratulate KN for engaging Dr. Misir on this very important issue, and I thank Mr. Misir for being open about the obvious financial irregularities that transpired at the National Communications Network (NCN).
It is hoped that the investigation goes beyond the NCN and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s Jingle & Song Competition, and that it extends to other aspects of the daily financial operation of this state entity.
According to Dr. Misir, “grey areas” being probed will inform any police involvement, it is therefore, hoped that all those “grey areas” will be exposed.
It is clear that the budget cuts were necessary and are critical to the strengthening of any kind of democracy of which we may boast. As seen in the NCN case, these cuts have the potential to occasion the kind of financial investigation into state entities to ensure that there is some level of accountability and transparency.
It would, therefore, be sensible and responsible for the government to change its unhelpful narrative regarding the budgets. It is time for the PPP/C government to be more open and honest with the people. In light of Dr. Misir’s revelation, which hints at the value of the budget cuts, I wonder where are we going with this ‘budget cut court case’, is it really necessary? And wouldn’t it hurt more than help the political situation?
I also wonder who is paying the government’s lawyers, in this case, is it the Guyanese taxpayers, who have themselves voted, through their representatives, in favour of these cuts?
So this looks like a case of the people paying lawyers to challenge their own action. Isn’t something wrong here? The last time I checked it was the parliamentary majority who voted for these cuts? Very perplexing indeed!
The PPP/C government should be focused on how it can engage the parliamentary opposition with the hope of arriving at justifiable supplemental budget proposals which are able to gain the full support of the people.
Lurlene Nestor  

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