A country far behind in its practices

Jul 25, 2014 Editorial

The recent landmark decision in Trinidad and Tobago by Justice Frank Seepersad would not have escaped the attention of political practitioners here at home. The lessons coming out of that sister CARICOM State are enough to make us weep in frustration at the tepid attempts to get those who govern this country to tread a fraction of the distance that others are unhesitatingly walking.
With the anomalies being highlighted each year by the Auditor General Reports, citizens would not be far from the truth if they were to argue that the happenings in the conduct of the people’s business, support the claim that all is not well on the transparency front. The sometimes ambiguous judgment emanating from our courts certainly do not help matters, and in that regard, Justice Seepersad’s ruling is instructive and his approach worthy of emulation.
The guiding principles to the Carter Centre Global Access to Information Initiative expressly state that: “information is a fundamental human right and a multi-dimensional tool serving both governments and citizens. Enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right of access to information improves governance and lives as it assists public administration to become more transparent and accountable and enables citizens to engage more meaningfully in public life, understand policies, help determine public priorities, and use the information to ensure the exercise of their other human rights, including the rights to clean water, a safe environment, and education.
In the Guyana context, citizens are being told that they are being denied access to public information because the political opposition refused to approve unconscionable expenditure from the public purse. These blatant acts of disrespect are some of the things that Guyanese are expected to swallow on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.
What the foregoing means to the ordinary tax payer is that the government can go right on purchasing items outside of a properly functioning Public Procurement Commission (PPC), disposing of these without any reference to accountability, and engaging in deals which officials are loath to explain. With no mechanism in place to ensure that state funds are spent and records kept in accordance with established good practices, unscrupulous persons are provided with carte blanche to pervert the genuine aspirations of the people for an improved quality of life.
Bland statements from high officials, which are big on form and lack substance, do not offer any comfort to the people whose money is being spent with no apparent consideration of value for money. The proliferation of advisors, some of whom merit the appellation of ‘impostor’ or ‘opportunist’, again does not provide any encouragement that problems are being addressed with the necessary acumen.
In other countries, the public quite reasonably expects to see the fruits of astute professional advice as evidenced by the formulation and implementation of appropriate national and sectoral policies. The advisors in Guyana are invisible for the most part, and the few who venture into the light of day offer commentary that has absolutely nothing to do with their professed field of competence, insofar as responding to public criticism to areas within their purview.
To now hear that the police are unaware that they could take action in a matter concerning abuse of public finances – which the Alliance for Change is intent on pursuing – suggests that in many ways this country is far behind in its practices.
Again, the recent comments by the T&T Attorney General with regard to the actions of some elements of the T&T Police Service should be an example to our local politicians. The political realities at this time demand that local government elections be held to correct the inequities and improprieties inherent in the current governance practices. That is the only solution to remedying the situation, as in the case where much needed drainage pumps are left lying idle on a major public road – one clear indication of the failure to heed the needs of the people. Another observation is that the requirement for ministries to display their logos on government vehicles seemingly applies only to usage by some, while the favoured few are permitted to have unmarked vehicles at their unlimited disposal. It is not hard to see the possibilities for misappropriation, particularly in the event of regime change.

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