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SARA Director details challenges amidst concerns over performance
Responding to criticisms over the level of performance of the State Asset Recovery Agency, (SARA), Deputy Director Aubrey Heath-Retmeyer detailed efforts made by the agency within its first year of operation.
According to Heath-Retmeyer, SARA is still in its initial phase of establishment.
“This is our first budgetary year and a lot of efforts were concentrated on ensuring the adequate investigations are carried out.
“To ensure the success of cases of SARA, we employed the resources available to convert the information we have into evidence. But it has been a long and tedious process.
“We had predicted before that we will be able to rest cases earlier this year. Not because we are not concerned about deadlines but we just could not do a proper job and gather the material in time.
“We are not just dealing with the Magistrates’ Court. We are dealing with the high court and they require a very high standard of proof and performance. As such, we are advised that we cover all the bases.”
SARA, Deputy Director Aubrey Heath-Retmeyer
However, the SARA official noted that challenges associated with retrieving information resulted in a major push back for the agency.
“The way our society is set up, we have to engage in painstaking process to recover information. It is often time consuming.
“For instance, SARA would write to an agency and ask for information. The agency may detach a staff to go find the information. The person may be sent into a room full of boxed documents and after going through all, at the end of the exercise that person still may not find the document. So the process is not as straight forward as it may seem.”
Heath-Retmeyer noted that the Agency has been working with other State entities such as the GRA and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited,(NICIL) to train officials on how to detect and stop corruption.
“So it’s not that the Agency is not working. Part of our effort is to train these officials how to spot discrepancies and protect State property.”
Earlier this year, the SARA Deputy Director had noted that the agency would be ramping up operations in conjunction with the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and other state agencies.
Heath-Retmeyer said 25 intelligence reports have been complied and delivered to SOCU for action, a sign that the agency is making progress on several cases where State assets have allegedly been stolen and exist in Guyana and abroad.
He said that the agency was preparing to take the first batch of cases to the courts in a month’s time.
SARA is in the process of reviewing “well over 50 to 60” cases for the recovery of State assets. The agency is hoping to focus on about 10 cases for immediate court action.
Heath-Retmeyer stated that work continues to convert the information received and then advance it to court.
The Deputy Director explained that it must be anticipated that persons charged with misappropriation and theft of State assets usually advance arguments based on the procedural aspect of the acquisition.
He highlighted the need for SARA to gather evidence in a prescribed manner to ensure solid cases, with the need to be careful with the type of information divulged to the public, since this may compromise the cases.
“If I should say something in public that can be construed as though we are going after people because of political or other reasons, all these things are taken into consideration when the judge listens to the case,” Heath-Retmeyer had pointed out.
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