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By their fruits we shall know them

Apr 11, 2016 Editorial

Recent revelations over the Tiwarie and the Bai Shan Lin scandals involving the Minister of State have shown that it is more difficult to govern than being in Opposition. Hence the saying “all that glitters is not gold.” The campaign promise of change, good governance and to provide significant increases in wages to civil servants were the quintessential game-changers in the general election.
Guyanese, especially the poor and the working class, have constantly been under financial pressure to make ends meet, but the inducement to vote for change and the promise of significant increases in salaries was all about improving the well-being of the workers. But it is not the responsibility of the workers to figure out where the Government would get the money to increase their salaries. The tactic being used by the government is to blame the former administration for leaving an almost empty treasury. But if that was the case, then why did the government increase the wages of several ministers by 50 percent.
But it was also bad governance to increase the salaries of some ministers by 50 percent, expand the cabinet to 27 ministers and for the Minister of State to secretly appoint a businessman as a business adviser to the government without cabinet approval. It is bad governance not to give significant increases in wages to the workers as promised, but at the same time the government is prepared to spend G$300 million to celebrate Guyana’s 50th Independence while the economy is struggling and unemployment, poverty and the national debt are increasing.
It is bad governance for the government to tout the promise of foreign investments to the nation, but after spending millions of dollars on travel expenses for ministers, nothing has materialized, which means the taxpayers are not receiving value for their money. Rather than continuing this exercise, someone ought to do a thorough study of the business investment model for low income countries such as Guyana.
If the government is serious about foreign investments, it should reduce the crime rate, and improve the reliability on electricity and water supply. Except for sugar, rice, bauxite and gold, whose prices are falling on the world market, there is not much else to invest in Guyana. GOINVEST has been a failure and so is tourism.
The sugar industry is bankrupt and it is bad governance to appoint the same individuals who presided over its collapse to run it. The closing of the Wales Sugar Factory without a solid alternative plan is also bad governance. It means that over 1,550 sugar workers will lose their jobs and many more in nearby villages will be impacted, directly and indirectly, as a consequence. These are not mere numbers. These are living, breathing Guyanese.
No one needs the Greek mathematician Euclid to calculate the impact on the economy. The current scenario cannot be a comfortable one for the Government. It should remind it that there is a distinct difference between being in Opposition and being in Government. The people voted for change and an end to corruption, but it seems that the latter is continuing.
Finally, it is bad governance for the government to remain silent on the current scandals and there is apparently no great haste to establish, in a binding and transparent way that such practices will not be repeated.
As the good book says, by their fruits we shall know them. Recall that just under a year ago the PPP lost power mainly because of corrupt practices. A wise person said: “Conscience is a man’s compass, and though the needle sometimes deviates, though one often perceives irregularities when directing one’s course by it, one must still try to follow its direction.”

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