There is still the perception of corruption and cronyism

Aug 28, 2016 Features / Columnists, My Column

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The issue of the settlement involving Brian Tiwarie and the government has been a talking point for quite some time now. There were criticisms from just about every quarter; some strident and some critical of the government for taking such a decision.
From my vantage point, all I had was the accusation that the government settled in a hurry. What made this matter the prime issue it has become is the fact that Brian Tiwarie and the government became very chummy in the run-up to and after the May 2015 General Elections.
Many believe that the clean environment that has enveloped the capital city is as a result of the relationship between the government and Tiwarie. For one, the equipment owned and operated by BK International was put to good use to remove the tons of filth and garbage that festooned the city.
This programme started by Tiwarie soon spread across the country, so that when people did come home for the jubilee earlier this year they were astounded. Most had never seen Georgetown so clean to the extent that flooding of the city streets was a thing of the past, a far cry from what happened during the tenure of the previous administration.
Then it became known that Tiwarie had been appointed an advisor to the government. The furore that this caused led to President David Granger revoking the appointment, but that did nothing to erase the fact that Tiwarie was close to the government. And he did say so. The end result was that when there was the settlement over the Haags Bosch issue, immediately people said that political influence was at work.
There was also the perception in some quarters that there were cutbacks and kickbacks for the people who concluded the deal. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall was among the vocal majority. He accused Attorney General Basil Williams of collusion with Tiwarie.
He made some profound statements, one of which was that the government should have gone to court to contest the Tiwarie claim. It has now come to light that Anil Nandlall actually agreed to pay Tiwarie even before the new government came to office. I would suppose that such is the nature of politics.
If that were the only political issue I would have been happy, but there have been so many others. There was the appointment of a man twice convicted for drug smuggling to the United States, to serve as the debt collection manager for Guyana Water Incorporated.
I would have argued that the man would have paid his debt to society and was therefore entitled to work, but it is now being peddled that the man is in no way qualified to perform such duties. Again, there was talk of political collusion.
People began to talk about nepotism and cronyism. The fact that Richard Van-West Charles was the son-in-law of a man who died more than thirty years ago was the talking point. As fate would have it, there was no background check before the appointment, and this matter is now on hold and likely to be rescinded.
Given these things, one is left to conclude that there would always be finger-pointing and efforts to pressure the government. I see a wage package granted to the Guyana Public Service Union and I hear talk and complaints. The package is a far cry from the days when there were five per cent impositions for years.
The package may not be what the union wanted and in any case, no wage package satisfies a union, but the workers would be happy. For one, there has been no significant movement in prices for a while, so whatever money the worker gets would actually provide for some additional things.
At the same time there has been a marked reduction in violent crimes, something that the government had promised during its election campaign. I still remember former president Bharrat Jagdeo pronouncing on the impact on people should the coalition be elected. He actually suggested that the coalition would send its goons to deflower the young women in those strongholds of the People’s Progressive Party.
Again, such is the nature of politics that any move to replace one government would be fraught with danger for anyone who fails to re-elect the government of the day.
But for all the drop in violent crimes, there are so many murders in parts of the country where the previous government held sway. PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee actually said that the people do not care to credit the government with any impact it may have on crime.
Suffice it to say that the government would not be allowed to get away with anything untoward. It has to play by the book. The award of every contract would be questioned and people are going to find flaws, regardless of how the contract is above board.
There must be speedy prosecutions of those found enmeshed in wrongdoing. There must also be constant meetings with the public to explain whatever is being pursued. The media is there to be the watchdog and right now the fangs of the watchdog are bared.

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