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All foreign investment proposals should be laid before National Assembly
…to avoid repeat of BaiShanLin scenario- Goolsarran
By Abena- Rockcliffe- Campbell
The best we can do about the past is to learn from it. Former Auditor General and Anti-corruption advocate,
Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran
Anand Goolsarran, strongly believes in that philosophy.
He recently said that Guyana has lots to learn from its history. As the nation continues to cry out for change, Goolsarran said that it is imperative that systems are put in place to ensure that unfortunate events that occurred under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government are not repeated.
Goolsarran remains saddened by the fact that the former Government allowed the nation’s resources to be exploited with no returns. He pointed to the fact the Chinese logging company, BaiShanLin, was given unimaginable concessions while doing nothing for Guyana’s economy or her people.
Guyana is still learning more about the magnitude of concessions granted to BaiShanLin as these were never made public during the tenure of the PPP/C.
Former Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh approved extreme tax waivers. Goolsarran described this as an assault on the people of Guyana.
The same power Dr. Singh had remains with the new Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan. Goolsarran said that this must be corrected.
The anti-corruption advocate said that there is too much power in the hands of the Minister of Finance who decides on the grant of fiscal concessions. He noted that he had made that point back in 1992 during his tenure as Auditor General.
Former Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh
Goolsarran told Kaieteur News that at that time, the extent of fiscal concessions granted was in the order of 80 percent of the country’s revenue.
“One solution to the problem is for all foreign investment proposals to be tabled and debated in the National Assembly and sanctioned by this body before the investment agreement is signed,” said Goolsarran.
Goolsarran said that the entire nation benefits that way. The opposition will be allowed to have a say, the media will be able to scrutinize the proposals and the nation will be informed.
This will be a win, win for all. Some of the concessions given to BaiShanLin that the nation is now learning about, were granted since 2012. This sort of ignorance that was forced on the public can be avoided if indeed all proposals are laid before the home of democracy—the National Assembly.
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