Latest update April 18th, 2025 8:12 AM
Govt. seeks to continue its orgy of corruption
– Carl Greenidge
By Abena Rockcliffe
Although a Bill was passed to amend the constitution in order to facilitate the financial independence of several agencies that deal with fundamental rights, no lump sum allocations in this area were reflected in this year’s budget.
At the end of a fiery debate that the Bill attracted, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs emphatically told the House that he would have advised President Donald Ramotar not to assent to the Bill.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s shadow Minister of Finance Carl Greenidge, who piloted the Bill, expressed disappointments that lump sum allocations weren’t provided in the Budget so as to make those agencies independent.
The agencies listed in the Bill to become “independent” are the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Judicial Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, the Police Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission, the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, the Public Procurement Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Guyana Elections Commission.
Former Minister of Finance: Carl Greenidge
Greenidge said that in keeping with the ‘arrogance’ of the budget, the Minister did not see it fit to provide lump sum allocations to the courts and some other similar agencies, even though Article 222 A provides for all rights giving agency be financed independently.
The joint parliamentary opposition’s argument was that if the government no longer controls the purse strings of the listed agencies, then no longer will it hold domain or any authority over those agencies, thus the agencies will become impartial.
However, the government’s unwavering position as it relates to the Bill was that the administration has never been one to directly try to control or impose authority over any of the agencies and as such, sees no need to amend the constitution just to facilitate what the opposition is seeking to do, “as such we will not support this bill.”
Greenidge had affirmed that the agencies are important for protecting public servants and the possibility of government action against them. These are important entities constitutionally, he emphasized.
At a press conference last week, Greenidge said that the lacking of lump sum provisions is a means for the government to continue having its orgy of corruption and irregularities that characterize it “these things need to be addressed.”
Yesterday, he explained that if these allocations were provided, representatives from the agencies won’t need to consult with the Minister of Finance for each activity for approval.
“As it is, the agencies present estimates to the Minister; he then cuts as he likes and after it is approved by parliament and somebody at any individual agency upsets the government, he can choose not to disburse the money, disburse it slowly or wait until the end of the year; that’s what we wanted to avoid.”
Greenidge cited the case of former Attorney General Dr Doodnauth Singh whose benefits were withheld as a result of a problem he had with former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
He also pointed out the case of former Justice Jainarine Singh who had ruled that the government compensate the owner of Toucan Suites after police and soldiers destroyed the building to get to seasoned criminal Linden ‘Blackie’ London.
Also cited was the Major General (Ret’d) Norman McLean who recently sued the government for $7.9M in gratuity which he is owed for the past 22 years.
During the debate for the passing Bill, leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan noted that “this government put them (the specified agencies) as budget agencies because they love money and it is a way for them to exercise their control-freakism.”
He said that when the government controls the purse strings, it controls the actions of the agencies.
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