The NICIL dilemma…Govt. has found itself between a rock and a hard place —Opposition Leader

Dec 02, 2015 News

On one hand, the APNU+AFC administration is faced with the decision to shut down the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Inc. (NICIL), as it had lobbied for innumerable times when it served in the Opposition.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

On the other, the Government could choose to go back on its promise to the nation and keep the entity it deemed to be at the heart of some of the most corrupt deals in Guyana’s history.
Either way, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said that government has found itself between a rock and a hard place. He opined that regardless of what decision it chooses, the David Granger-led administration would be placed in an embarrassing light in the eyes of the nation.
Government had launched an investigation into NICIL and the report has been completed over a month now. Cabinet is yet to see its findings hence the green light is still to be given for it to be made public.
Nevertheless, the report recommends that NICIL be closed down and a small department be opened under the Ministry of Finance, if government deems it necessary. But Finance Minister Winston Jordan does not necessarily share this view.
In fact, he insisted in a recent interview with Kaieteur News that NICIL as a state-owned company is essential.
Jordan said, “Listen, NICIL is necessary. You cannot shut down the entity just like that or do away with it, because it was established to serve a particular purpose. Granted, NICIL needs to be restructured, but I would emphasise again that it is a necessary entity. The decision to be taken on NICIL has to be approved by Cabinet in any case, so I cannot say to you that I agree with this recommendation or I disagree.”
The Opposition Leader holds a similar position. He said, “I think that the government needs to probably keep NICIL. You will see that all of the audited reports of the company gave it a clean bill of health. I believe that when you would have seen the so-called forensic audit and the response by NICIL, you would also conclude that NICIL played a very useful role in Guyana’s development and it acted in transparent manner.”
Jagdeo claimed that NICIL was “demonized” by a private vendetta by some newspapers and by the then political opposition.
“Almost every single day there would be some fabrication of a story on NICIL in the papers. They portrayed it as being corrupt. The government when it was in opposition made a big issue about closing NICIL down and said that NICIL is not necessary. They find themselves today in a dilemma. Either they admit that they were wrong and that they do need to keep NICIL, or close it and fulfill their promise to the people to do so,” expressed the former President.
Since the launch of a forensic audit into the operations of NICIL, several glaring breaches of the country’s financial regulations have been unearthed.