NCN scandal...President Ramotar still to act on findings

NCN scandal…President Ramotar still to act on findings

Nov 04, 2012 News

– Initial investigations should have been done by CID

President Donald Ramotar is still to act on the findings of the recently concluded investigations into financial irregularities at the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN).
This is according to Chairman of NCN’s Board, Dr. Prem Misir, yesterday.
Dr. Misir who was in charge of the investigations, said that he recently submitted the findings detailing the financial irregularities at NCN to the subject Minister, who is the President.
According to Misir, his investigation was confined to the Terms of Reference that sought to ascertain the relationship between Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and NCN.
Dr. Misir said that the findings would have been in the President’s possession a while now but he (Dr. Misir) was out of the country. He is confident that very shortly Ramotar will act on the findings.
In a leaked report- prepared during the first half of the year- it was revealed that on the part of NCN, one area of irregularity was traced back to GT&T and involved millions of dollars in advertisements.
NCN’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Sattaur, who had knowledge of the financial irregularities resigned in June. The entity’s Programme Manager, Martin Goolsarran, who admitted that he had deposited the payment cheque from the telephone company into his personal account, has been suspended without pay.
According to Misir, Sattaur’s resignation and Goolsarran’s suspension are sanctions already served to the men. He, however, pointed out that it would be up to the President to decide if stiffer penalties would be served and if the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force would be called in.
However, Alliance for Change (AFC)’s leader, Khemraj Ramjattan is not optimistic that much would come out of the report submitted to Ramotar. He opined that the men should be jailed for stealing. In fact, he believes that ranks of CID should have been the ones conducting the initial investigations.
“The police position of only investigating an issue when a report is made can be appreciated, with the exception being when a crime is committed in their presence. Now the President, Mr. Ramotar, and/or the Board members to whom the Parmessar’s Inquiry findings were sent to, ought to make that report to the Police or the DPP for a criminal investigation to be held against both Martin and Fuzzy (Sattaur),” he said.
According to Ramjattan, it appears that the President loves corruption and is lethargic in dealing with these issues. As such, he does not expect any initiation of criminal investigation into the matter. Those involved are family members, he added.
Ramjattan said that as President, Ramotar must ensure that corruption is nipped in the bud. But the recent episode at the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) shows that corrupt individuals are favoured over those who expose corruption.
The Field Auditor (and not Internal Auditor as previously reported) who skipped protocol and submitted a damning report that showed the Chief Executive Officer of NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth and Senior Section Engineer, Aneel Chowbay’s involvement in corrupt practices was sent on leave.
Ironically the two who were recommended for dismissal are still operating at the NDIA.