Once again, the President may have been misled by his AG

Sep 02, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Since his ascension to the highest office, President Granger has been making some erroneous decisions that many believe are in direct conflict with his own and the promises made in the 2015 APNU+AFC Manifesto. Prior to the General and Regional Elections of 2015, many believed and some still do, that Retired Brigadier David Arthur Granger is an honorable, God-fearing man who will use the essential principles that were the foundation of his long career in the military, to “eradicate crime”, “stop corruption”, “restore democracy”, and to initiate policies and programs that are “transparent” and “accountable” in the best interest of the Guyanese people.
We all thought in the beginning that their collective inexperience in running a government was responsible for the mistakes, but month after month the public is being bombarded like “shock and awe” as one scandal is exposed after another, that exposes the incompetence and ineptitude of the Granger-led APNU+AFC government.
Had it not been for the vigilance and diligence of the People’s Progressive Party in monitoring the use of public funds by the APNU+AFC government, Guyanese may never have known about the 50% pay-hike and additional benefits given to ministers in just a few weeks on the job. They may never have known that the government rented the Sussex Street “pharmaceutical storage bond” as payback to a known PNC/APNU financier for over $12.5 million per month. Had it not been for the PPP, Guyanese may never have known that over $1 Billion of their tax dollars were spent on a white-elephant known as the D’Urban Park Development Project, and that $605 million were given to Ansa McCal to procure drugs without following the procurement laws, costing taxpayers millions more for less drugs. And let us not forget that two junior ministers were living in houses rented by this government for $500,000 per month each, while a senior minister is living in one rented for $1.5 million of taxpayers’ money.
But all this pales in comparison to the loss of revenue and uncontested lawsuit settlements that cost taxpayers billions of dollars due to the incompetence and laziness of our Attorney General. In December 2015, The APNU+AFC Coalition government settled a claim by RUDISA, a Suriname-based beverage company for the entire amount of US$16 million, without any negotiations for a debt repayment schedule, despite the fact that the company owed and appears to still owe millions of dollars in taxes to Guyana. The government could have avoided this payout entirely if they had not stubbornly defeated two attempts by the then PPP/C Administration during the 10th Parliament to amend the Customs Act to prevent the case from being decided by the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Then in April 2016, the APNU+AFC government engaged in a settlement with the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) that will result in over $80 billion in lost revenue to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the nation. This deal remains so secretive that several attempts by the PPP/C Opposition in Parliament to get full disclosure were shot down by the government MPs.Yet the Granger Administration cannot find $10 billion a year to keep GuySuco going and save 10,000 jobs in the process.
Then there were other write-offs of debts to the GRA by companies who financed the APNU+AFC election campaign worth hundreds of millions of dollars because, according to one government official, “these companies have to be compensated for their financial investment to the APNU+AFC Coalition during the election campaign.”
Then the Granger Administration awarded another major campaign financier, BK International, the amount of $1.7 Billion in settlement for the Haggs Bosche project although this amount was never awarded by the Courts. BK just threatened a lawsuit, and the Attorney General Chambers decided to settle “out of Court.” I wonder how much of this amount was given back to the APNU+AFC as election campaign contribution.
And of course, the Granger Administration has recently been demonstrating nothing but disdain and contempt for our Constitution and the Rule of Law by undermining the judicial process. We’ve seen evidence of interference and the bullying of the Judiciary during the Carvil Duncan case, and the Presidential sanctioning of the disrespectful actions of the Attorney General shown to Justice Holder in his Court room. We’ve also seen evidence of the misuse of SOCU to target, harass and prosecute PPP Executives and former PPP ministers, instead of going after drug lords and those suspected of money-laundering.
Recently, we’ve seen instructions given to the Police Service Commission (PSC) by President Granger to stop the police promotion process in contravention of the Guyana Constitution, in an effort to decapitate the leadership of the Guyana Police Force. And we’re seeing an incompetent Minister of Public Security, whose portfolio seems to be diminishing rapidly, and whose authority may have been encroached upon without his knowledge and approval.
The same, however, cannot be said about the blundering Attorney General, whose influence seems to be growing rapidly with the PNC Leader and President of Guyana, despite suffering such humiliating and embarrassing losses in the Courtroom to his predecessor, the former AG, Anil Nandlall.
Minister of State, the Hon Joseph Harmon may have been just following orders from His Excellency, Retired Brigadier David Arthur Granger like the good soldier he was when he sent that letter to the PSC. But the President may have been ill-advised once again to do so by his Legal Advisor, the Attorney General, Basil Williams. However, I fear that the determined Williams will continue to make legal blunders because of his arrogance and the Granger Administration will continue to trample on the Constitution because of its philosophy that they know what’s best for the Guyanese people. In the meanwhile, there may be growing dissension and a power-grab between these two Cabinet Ministers as advisors to a dormant President, and it will be interesting to see how the Basil Williams gambit plays out.
HARRY GILL
PPP/C Member of Parliament

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