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Resurrecting the old ways
There is nothing more frustrating than when a people expect so much and get so little. They went to the polls in larger than ever numbers because they had become frustrated at the level of corruption that pervaded the society. They had refused to believe anything that their leaders had to say about projects and national development.
They could not get answers to common questions about things that were happening before their very eyes. They watched their leaders grab prime property for themselves and their friends; they watched people acquire more than they could afford on their pay.
So it was that on May 11, 2015, the people voted out the People’s Progressive Party, albeit on a slim majority. There was celebration on the streets and a pledge to keep the PPP out of office. Now the replacement seems to be doing the same things that the PPP did.
Indeed, the situation has not reached the large scale that it was during the tenure of the PPP Government, but there is a staying that the longest journey begins with the first step. Today there has been more than the first step and the signs are worrying.
The government agreed to pay BK International a settlement of US$5.7 million without going to court to test the validity of the claim. BK International had gone to the courts to challenge the revocation of his contract to operate the Haags Bosh Landfill. The then acting Chief Justice handed down a decision that the contract was arbitrarily terminated.
It has now come to light that BK International never filed a lawsuit to claim US$10M. He merely sent a threatening letter. This was enough to make the government buckle.
The public is not taking this lightly and believe that there was some collusion between elements in the government and BK International. Threatening letters can never be enough to force a settlement, at least not in the eyes of an Attorney General worth his/her salt. This issue is not going to go away, especially since the early cozy arrangement the government had with Brian Tiwarie, the principal in BK International.
Then there was the decision to rent a facility to house a pharmaceutical bond, again to save money. The United States Agency for International Development had funded the construction of a pharmaceutical bond in 2013 to ease the financial pressure on the government. The view was that Queens Atlantic was milking the government, having already been sole sourced to supply pharmaceuticals for the Ministry of Health and the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The new bond was large enough to accommodate all the drugs the government would need. Surprisingly, it has been put to limited use and the new government is moving to rent an additional bond.
The move to rent this new bond is not the real issue; it is that the government actually paid over $25 million to Larry Singh ahead of the completion of the bond. This cannot be explained, although there have been efforts to close ranks. The government was asked to investigate itself and it came up with the possibility of a fire and traffic jams. It did not take into consideration that the solitary bond that served the nation for more than a decade was along the same stretch of road and traffic jams or fires never affected distribution.
Again, people are seeing collusion between the government and a chosen cohort. This deal should be cancelled immediately in the name of decency and transparency.
The people would want transparent arrangements. They have been exposed to a number of audits that have highlighted criminal acts, but have seen no criminal prosecutions. They have been told of the pursuit of the assets that might have been spirited away, but have seen no result.
They are being told to trust the government, but how could they, when they already see acts that are reminiscent of the days the PPP ruled Guyana?
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