People have lost their sense of right and wrong

Feb 19, 2014 Letters

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Dear Editor,
The new year has arrived and with it comes the hopes and dreams of the poor and the working class for a better life but they have been abandoned by the regime a long time ago. In Guyana, the fervent wish of the masses is that the billions of dollars that continue to flow through the Treasury will have a more positive impact on the quality of their lives. It is not an unreasonable request given the huge revenues that accrue on an annual basis all of which supposedly belong to the people.
In Guyana where millions have been spent on building the Marriott Hotel and on bogus contracts, it should be easy to find money for those projects and activities that really add value to lives of the people, especially the poor.
Take the perennial issue of flooding, a problem that plagues Georgetown and several communities every time there is heavy rainfall. Surely in the high-tech 21st century there must be modern methods to deal decisively with this problem especially when money is no problem for the regime. Millions of dollars seem readily available for non-essentials while many selfless, hardworking citizens and community groups continue to struggle for financial support.
A similar fate often befalls our nurses, teachers and civil servants whose works are critical if Guyana is to avoid the abyss. Along with the over worked social workers and guidance counselors these are the persons who should be commanding the million dollar salaries that are being paid to the contract employees who are relatives and friends of the cabal. The government must honor and respect the workers of Guyana for their hard work.
While the wasteful, inefficient spending by the regime is bad enough it is also an unpleasant fact that a significant portion of the national patrimony is stolen and ends up in private foreign bank accounts. Several political analysts have stated that corruption has become institutionalized in Guyana. What we have is a covetous and greedy tribal cabal trying to take as much as possible from the state without putting in anything. This ‘culture of kickbacks’ is not new because as we have noted the intent of many in the cabal is not to serve the public but to acquire as much personal wealth and power as possible. From the leaders down, the example is one of greed, self-interest and corruption without inhibition or shame.
It should be no surprise therefore that Guyana continues to be the second most corrupt country in the Caribbean after Haiti in the annual Transparency International—Corruption Perception Index Report despite the cabal platitudes about transparency and accountability. The apologists are quick to discredit the report by pointing out that it is only a ‘perception’ and not the reality. Yeah right! They are only fooling themselves as they continue to live in a fools’ paradise.
Almost every Guyanese is aware of the widespread corruption that takes place in almost every level of the government and still the regime remains very reluctant to establish the Procurement Commission. After all, this is the Unit that is responsible for the processing of contracts, hence the weeding out of the corrupt practices.
During the past two years, over $600 million worth of alleged suspicious transactions have been reported yet there have been no prosecutions.” Why is this? Who benefits from not having the Procurement Commission? Not the opposition or the people.
Meanwhile in Guyana when we talk only about criminal activities we think about drug-related gangs, criminals who rob and kill innocent citizens and people who shoot each other, but there are other  criminals.
The real danger however, lies in the havoc that corruption inevitably wreaks on the nation’s moral compass. As the money disappears from the Treasury so too is the people’s sense of right and wrong. It is no mere coincidence that the rising tide of financial skullduggery coincides with brutal murders in broad daylight and the slaughter of innocent citizens.
Not to mention the upsurge in fake drivers licenses and police officers openly demanding bribes from the public. These are all signs of serious social decay and the ‘anything goes’ mentality that prevails in a corrupt Guyana.
The deterioration has been evident for many years but some have excused the decline with self-serving and cynical phrases like no one has proved that corruption exists. Others claim that corruption is no big thing and that it takes place in every country, including the United States. If this is true then why is the cabal getting so angry when they are exposed and why do they engage in such elaborate schemes to cover their tracks and hide the stolen money?
We strongly believe that corruption robs the citizens of Guyana of their own resources and fundamental rights. It makes the weak prey to the strong and it delivers control of society into the hands of an unjust, uncaring, selfish and immoral regime. It also debilitates the nation and undermines the rule of law.
In other words corruption is a major cause of lawlessness and social injustice in Guyana.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh.

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