Harmon assures Govt. working to reduce corruption

Jul 24, 2017 News

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– not unduly worried by international perceptions

 

By Abena Rockcliffe- Campbell

Although the coalition is not unduly worried about the international perception that high levels of corruption still exist in government, Minister of State Joseph Harmon says that the APNU+AFC government is working hard to remove, or at least minimize, this perception.
“The corruption perception index has moved in the right direction. There is nothing that says we are more corrupt than we were before. In fact, all indicators point towards a better administration,” Harmon said at a recent press conference.
“The perception of corruption is as it says; a perception.”
The Minister said that government continues to put out the “facts” about the levels of corruption in government “but sometimes there is a gap between perception and reality; and, depending on where you stand your perception becomes your reality.”
He said that from where the government is standing, it is doing the best it could to ensure that “our processes are clean and that there is transparency in what we do and that where ever corruption is found action is taken against it.”
Harmon boasted about the improvement that Guyana has made on the Transparency International Index. In 2015 Guyana was ranked 119/168, but in 2017 with a score of 34, Guyana has managed to improve its ranking to 108/176. But with a ranking of 34 out of 100—100 being very clean—Guyana is still deemed very corrupt.
Nevertheless, Harmon said, “We have done so much to move us up the ladder that I can say to you if there is apperception it was there before and we are now trying to do our best to work our way out of it. Under the previous government our ranking was far much lower and we are doing several things to ensure that it goes higher.”
Some of the measures noted by Harmon are the production of a half yearly report on the economy and the preparation of the National Budget prior to the fiscal year. Also, Harmon spoke of the many Commissions of Inquiries (COI) that have been held under the new administration.
“These COIs are all geared at ensuring that any corruption or any perception of corruption can be corrected but depending on point of view and who is writing, from which country, they will have a different view.
” The Minister of State said that the majority of people living in Guyana believe that the government is doing an excellent job “in terms of making Guyana better and accountable.”

Transparency International has over the years been placing Guyana among the most corrupt countries in the world. The APNU+AFC government has not been able to remove that perception.
However, now that oil is on its way, the country will be placed more under the microscope, attracting attention from organizations and countries that probably never knew of the country’s existence or perhaps just never paid it any attention.
In fact, Guyana has caught the attention of one of the largest business magazines in the world—The Economist. That newspaper has labelled the government of Guyana “far from strong” in an article published a few weeks ago.
The Economist is a weekly magazine-format newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited at offices in London. The Economist offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.
The article on Guyana appeared in the Americas section of the print edition under the headline “The gusher of Guyana. Will oil corrupt a small Caribbean State?” It was noted in the strap line of the article, “It will take better politicians to resist the corrosive power of petrodollars.”
The magazine described Guyana as one of South America’s poorest countries. “But perhaps not for much longer: Guyana has struck black gold.”
The article that was anonymously written noted that by 2020 ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest private oil firm, expects to be pumping oil in Guyanese waters, with Hess and Nexen, its American and Chinese partner firms.
The article reflected Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman’s desire to have Guyana sign up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which monitors mineral revenues to stop them being stolen. It noted, too, that the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA), a recently formed coalition of private firms and individuals, aims to promote transparency in the industry.
“But oil tends to corrupt weak governments. And Guyana’s is far from strong; the country has a history of corruption and its politics are bitter and racially polarized.”
The Economist said that Guyana faces a risk of its petrodollars being squandered on more sugar subsidies and pay rises for the “unproductive public sector. The next election is due in 2020 just when the oil starts to flow. The victor could enjoy a well-lubricated quarter-century in office.”
The original article can be read at: https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21724385-it-will-take-better-politicians-resist-corrosive-power-petrodollars-will-oil-corrupt

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