Govt. ignoring Motion to bring NICIL under parliamentary scrutiny – APNU

Jun 16, 2014 News

---

The government has made clear that it does not intend to take heed of a two-year-old Motion which called for the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to be brought under the scrutiny of the National Assembly.
In 2012, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge piloted a Motion which sought to have Government present to the National Assembly the reports and audited accounts of NICIL and the Privatization Unit.
The Motion resolved that NICIL’s revenues should be placed in the Consolidated Fund and that the entity should be audited by an independent professional.

Last week, Kaieteur News contacted Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has overall responsibility for government business in the National Assembly, to find out how many of the resolutions of this Motion were implemented. Hinds said that he hadn’t such information at his “fingertips” but referred to the stance taken by government during the passage of the Motion, adding that that position still remains.
The government’s stance was that the Motion is ill conceived. Regarding the Motion’s call for an independent audit of NICIL, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall said that the House had already established the independence and autonomy of the Audit Office, which made it difficult to understand the call.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had described the Motion as flawed and without basis, being a vulgar attack on NICIL and its Director, Winston Brassington.
And Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali, slammed the combined Opposition, saying that the People’s National Congress (PNC) hadn’t much of a good track record regarding National Assets.
Greenidge had pointed out earlier this year that he will take up the fact that Dr. Singh failed to comply with the resolutions of the Motion, but that is still to be done.
APNU’s Joseph Harmon had told Kaieteur News in 2013 that the matter would be taken up in court; that too is still to be done.
But last week Harmon told this publication that there is nothing in place to penalize the government for such an act. He said it is a matter of “honouring the democracy we live in.”
Harmon said the government has to realize that Motions taken to the House by the Opposition is not a request from one citizen but is a reflection of what the Members of Parliament, who are representing the majority of Guyanese, think is best for the country.
The MP opined that the PPP administration is one that does not understand moral practices and one that is absolutely shameless about the many wrong things it is doing to society.
According to Harmon, most of the corruption that is rampant in today’s society has to do with NICIL.

“That entity’s name is called in most of it. NICIL’s revenues form something like a parallel budget that allows for all sorts of things (financing of projects not approved by the National Assembly). That’s why when the budget is cut, it’s business as usual. It facilitates all these faulty Public Private Partnership projects, hence, I’m so harsh on Brassington. This man just takes and spends Guyanese people money as he pleases and doesn’t want to account for it.”
The MP said that bringing NICIL into account will put an end to the bulk of corruption. He said that Brassington and former President Bharrat Jagdeo must have nothing to do with the entity. “…All they do is create wealth for friends as they create more problems for the poor.”
The Opposition had described the Motion as seeking to follow the movement and management of state assets specifically falling under the control of NICIL. The Motion also sought to have Government outline the workings of NICIL and its policy guidelines.
Greenidge told Kaieteur News that the Motion arose from general concerns about the unaccountability on the part of NICIL for a variety of actions; how it had taken decisions with Government resources in a number of projects.
The Motion made reference to the fact that state assets were being disposed of without going through the proper channels.
Greenidge said, too, that the company is currently carrying out functions that contradict the original plan that fashioned the legislation to establish it.
He said that the organization was originally established as a holding company which was intended to oversee the allocation of assets that came out of privatization.
It is also responsible for advising on how properties are disposed of, but the government instead, “uses NICIL to get these lands and distribute them to its friends without having to go through any proper procedure for vetting or for setting prices or anything like that.”

---

---