So much spent and little to show

Dec 06, 2012 Editorial

There are many things that appeared to have been introduced in the society for the good of the society. A lot of money has been spent and one would have expected that by now the nation would have been seeing the benefits of these introductions. Instead, it would seem that the money was either not spent, or if spent, did not go toward the things for which it was intended.
One glaring example is the expenditure on Close Circuit Television cameras around the city. President Bharrat Jagdeo had made the announcement during his tenure in office. Shortly after, the Finance Ministry had budgeted a sizeable amount for these cameras. The money was voted and we learnt that the cameras were installed.
President Jagdeo, at a press conference, said that the cameras would lead to a reduction in kidnapping because the cameras would indicate the direction in which the kidnappers would have gone. The cameras were supposed to be ubiquitous. And indeed they were placed at almost every major intersection and near the traffic lights installation.
Since then there have been many robberies. The cars that transport the escaping criminals seem to elude these cameras which were said to be in working order. The question then is, what are they recording?
It is the same with the Intelligence Unit. We heard a lot about them in the same way we heard that the two major telephone service providers being asked to set up equipment to allow for the recording of telephone conversations.
While there was word that the service providers were against any such thing we heard by the grapevine that they did comply with the government’s request because the government had passed a law that mandated that they be so equipped.
A fortnight ago, Dr Roger Luncheon admitted that the government was listening in to conversations and had been so permitted by the courts. We had made this observation earlier. Despite all the eavesdropping there has been nothing to suggest that they were listening to the right people.
Recently, there was the issue of smuggled gold but no one has been detained. There have been some detentions in the case of drug smuggling but these arrests were in no way linked to the role of the telephony intelligence unit. I can only suggest that here too we have a case of wasted expenditure.
The government has also spent state funds on the Intelligence Unit. Now this unit is necessary if there are going to be shady deals and plots against the state. Every state has its intelligence section and Guyana is no different.
Indeed, there are the Special Branch of the Guyana Police Force; the intelligence section of the Guyana Defence Force; the Intelligence arm of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit and whatever units the government may have to spy for its own purposes. But despite the existence of these entities the government wants a special intelligence unit which would be housed away from the maddening crowd.
So far, there is only the building, no staff was identified. There may be some borrowing from other sectors, but the job of this unit will be special. It will report directly to the Office of the President. Is this a waste of money given the various intelligence units that abound?
Then there was the vote in two budgets for airstrips at Leguan and Wakenaam. These are islands with declining populations and are easily accessible from the coastal areas. Why money on airstrips? Someone had to be a beneficiary; the residents certainly were not. There have been no flights with the promised influx of tourists. The airstrips are now overgrown and slowly returning to the dense grass they were.
There is always the fear that these things may sound like necessities when in fact they are opportunities for people to either enrich themselves through inflated contracts, or a case of paranoia, leading to the spying on people other than the criminals.
But on the other hand, they may represent a case of the government seeking to move into the realm of the developed world and would therefore need these things to make it more efficient in its dealings.
The bottom line is that there is nothing to show for the money.

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So much spent and little to show

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