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Having parliament scrutinize large concessions must be carefully considered – Finance Minister
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan says that when it comes to the granting of huge concessions, having parliament make those decisions instead of his office must be carefully considered – if that is what is best for Guyana.
Former Auditor General and anti-corruption advocate, Anand Goolsarran had recommended that the APNU+AFC government take a more transparent route when granting large scale concessions.
Goolsarran said this as he reflected upon the fact that former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, approved extreme tax waivers. The same power that Dr. Singh had remains with Minister Jordan. Goolsarran had emphasised that this must be corrected.
Goolsarran is adamant that there is too much power in the hands of the Minister of Finance, who decides on the grant of fiscal concessions.
“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,” Goolsarran posited.
He noted that he had made that point back in 1992 during his tenure as Auditor General.
Meanwhile, Minister Jordan recently told Kaieteur News that Goolsarran’s recommendation is one which he has to carefully consider.
“I cannot give a commitment, that it is something we are going to implement in the near future, because such a proposal would entail weighing the pros and cons,” said Jordan.
He continued, “I can appreciate the fact that Goolsarran means well and is making such a suggestion in the interest of transparency, but what will be the effects on how business arrangements are conducted? We have to weigh the pros and cons of what kind of impact it will have on investors, because they don’t like indecisiveness.”
Jordan said that he is not against the idea. He professed that he is “all for things which are going to bring about greater transparency, improve accountability and overall governance,” but stressed that a great deal of consideration is needed for such a recommendation.
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.
The former Auditor General 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 that 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.
The anti-corruption advocate said that the entire nation benefits from a higher level of scrutiny – the opposition will be allowed to have a say, the media will be able to scrutinize the proposals and the nation will be informed.
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,” said Goolsarran.
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