President must deal firmly with serious issues involving Govt. officials

President must deal firmly with serious issues involving Govt. officials – Chris Ram

Aug 20, 2016 News

Many who have had high expectations of greater levels of transparency and accountability, coupled with

Anti-corruption advocate, Christopher Ram

reduced corruption under the new government, have been left disappointed.
For one, anti-corruption advocate Christopher Ram says that he is not satisfied with the level of accountability under this new government.
“I am not satisfied at all; some of the recent cases under his new government are cause for concern,” said Ram.
The attorney-at-law said that while President David Granger has not been fingered in any shady act or questionable deal, he is failing in one of his main responsibilities as Head of State. That, according to Ram, would be Granger’s responsibility to keep his officials in line.
“Granger has to step in and deal sternly with serious issues that have been raised in the public domain or his entire administration will become tainted by these accusations and possible misconceptions,” said Ram.
He added that a wrong message will be sent if the public begins to feel as if government officials are getting off with less than a slap on the wrist.
Ram said that it is imperative that Granger remembers that the nation has put faith in him and expects him to do what is right. “They all (Guyanese) expect him to take his responsibility seriously.
Ram noted that Granger as President appointed Ministers, so he has a responsibility to make sure that they are acting in the best interest of the nation.

President David Granger

The auditor and anti-corruption advocate pointed to some of the events that may have left the nation disappointed.
He made reference to the widely reported scandal involving Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.
Photos of Harmon surrounded by officials of BaiShanLin on a private jet circulated a few months ago. The Minister was criticized for what seemed like fraternization with officials of a controversial company under investigation. Also, it was reported that Harmon interfered with the work the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)—a body that is ideally supposed to function without political interference. It was claimed that Harmon ordered GRA and SOCU officials who ventured to seize two of BaiShanLin vehicles to back down and leave the premises.
After all of this, President Granger announced that he still has full confidence in Harmon. Ram said that on to now he is not satisfied with the way the Harmon issue was handled.
Ram then pointed to the recent bond fiasco involving Minister of Health, Dr. George Norton.

Minister of Health,
Dr. George Norton

Dr. Norton has found himself in one of the worst image-wrecking scandals under the coalition government. The Minister rented a bond for the storage of drugs and medical supplies at $12.5M per month. A $25M “security deposit” was paid to the bond owner, despite the fact that the bond has not been approved for the storage of drugs. The Minister also engaged in sole sourcing.
Dr. Norton was caught lying to the National Assembly. He told the House that the government was paying $19.2M a month to new GPC for the storage of drugs. Subsequently, New GPC made it clear that Norton was lying. The company said it offered its warehouse free of charge for the past decade.
When speaking about the fiasco, Ram noted the recommendation for the Minister to issue an apology. He questioned, “Is that enough? Would an apology have been acceptable if a PPP Minister had acted in that manner?”
“I can also remember what Volda Lawrence did,” said Ram.
Reports in local media had quoted Minister Lawrence saying “this is a family issue that has been going on and on and on and on for whatever reason, I can’t tell you, because if I had a brother, even if there was an accusation, this is not how I would go about helping him.”
The Minister was at the time referring to allegations of sexual assault leveled against Winston Harding, who the coalition had offered as a candidate at the Local Government Elections. Lawrence’s position was that

Minister of State,
Joseph Harmon

the man was never charged, so she did not see need to be wary of him. Many thought this was enough to cost Lawrence her position as Minister of Social Protection.
Ram said that some of what has plagued the new government during its short time in office may seem frivolous in isolation, “but when you view these things collectively you see that there is cause for concern.”
He said that when all is considered there is a clear need for President Granger to step up and prove to the public that he has things under control.

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