Guyanese need to support the SARA Bill

Aug 20, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
This is the conclusion of a letter we carried in yesterday’s edition.
In addressing the GHRA’s concern about the SARA, Bill being too narrow, SARU’s current Mission “is to aggressively and legally pursue corruption; the theft of State Assets and to ensure future transparency in the use of Government and Public assets”
SARU’s goals as such, are to (1) recover stolen assets within and outside of Guyana; (2) the Prevention of corruption and the misuse of Public assets; and (3) to work for strengthened Regulatory Frameworks at all levels to further increase the Transparency and Accountability of Financial Institutions, the Corporate Sector, and Public Administrations”. Hence, the SARA Bill is part of a broader Government architecture to prevent corruption and to recover stolen assets which no Guyanese has a constitutional right to own.
The question of “narrowness” has to be viewed in the above context and one in which Civil Society including the GRHA has a role to play as stated in Article 13 of UNCAC as referenced by GHRA in its Press Release. This position is recognized in clauses 6(1)(g) and 11(2) of the Bill which respectively provides for the Director to “raise public awareness on the dangers of corruption and enlist public support in combating corruption” … and to engage in “appropriate consultations with any local or national civil society organisations.”
The GHRA also knows this SARA Bill has had wide international scrutiny, analysis and approval in its development. This is why the civil recovery route has been taken as an alternative but complementary to criminal recovery. The second major point raised by the GHRA was defined by their statement “the sweeping powers available to the Director of the Agency and the manner of his/her appointment.”
With respect to the powers, the following private and state institutions are only a selection of those which must comply with any request from the Director of SARA for information they hold: the Commissioner of Police, the DPP, Head of CANU, the Bank of Guyana, private banks, and the Chairperson of the Gold Board. Rather than the established procedure whereby other agencies provide the Guyana Revenue Authority with information on which it can act, the new Bill requires the opposite: the GRA must provide information on which the SARA will act”.
GHRA is worried about these powers even though GHRA would acknowledge, given their own knowledge of corruption (gold smuggling, stolen government vehicles and properties; land giveaways (Pradoville 2); state contracts; the G$18b recently found in accounts of a Permanent Secretary) that lawfully obtained information is needed to recover stolen state assets.
Of course, the GHRA has not written a Press Release on the powers of the DPP. Nor has it suggested the DPP should be governed by a Board as is their wish for SARA. Over the years, the Guyana press has carried articles suggesting Guyana loses G$330 B per year in stolen state assets. SARU’s current analysis indicates the amount may be more than that.
In closing, Guyanese need to support this Bill because it creates an Agency with the objective of getting back from any person, state property which he or she unlawfully obtained and to which he or she has no legal right. To suggest that it is a Bill for political partisan or ethnic fights is not only wrong but reckless.
I hope the GHRA will create a press release calling on the DPP to recuse herself from the Pradoville 2 affair and to urge criminal charges be preferred against those who allegedly stole state assets for their benefit, as was the case in Belize where criminal charges were approved by the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Eric M. Phillips

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