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Strengthening anti-corruption institutions will be our aim – PPP General Secretary
The People Progressive Party /Civic, (PPP/C) is set to up the ante against corruption once the party wins office, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said yesterday.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
Addressing media operatives during his weekly press conference, held at his Church Street office, the Opposition Leader and PPP General Secretary, revealed that the party intends to work on strengthening institutions geared towards fighting corruption.
“We are looking at a detailed set of programmes that will strengthen governance institutions to fight corruption”
The Opposition Leader noted that the party “…sees the absolute need to not only strengthen but to create new ones to ensure there are swift penalties”.
Jagdeo noted, however, that information on the party’s plan to fight corruption will be further revealed in its election manifesto.
In addition, Jagdeo noted that the party will be relying heavily on the oil sector for the creation of a promised 50,000 new jobs
“For those who think this is an ambitious number, the 50,000 jobs, this is a conservative number, because we believe we can do much better, because of the incentive programmes that we are working on,” Jagdeo added.
He said his party is currently working on a package of incentives to support job creation and that will cover all sectors of the economy.
Confronted with questions about the allegations of corruption leveled against his own party, Jagdeo called the reports “a myth spread by APNU+AFC Government”.
“It was the same APNU+AFC Government which branded the Marriott Hotel as a corrupt project, saying that it has to be sold. Today, that same government has every intention to keep the hotel and has said that it is doing well,”Jagdeo said.
“Now that they are in office, they are faced with a situation where they have to prove all that they said about us was true. And this is why I spend some time talking about what they said in the past and ask them why they aren’t doing anything about it.”
This is not the first time that the Opposition Leader has exuded confidence that the government “does not have any real dirt on the PPP”.
At an earlier press briefing, Jagdeo noted that he is not the least bit afraid of what the release of more forensic reports can do to the image of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) during the upcoming campaign for General and Regional Elections.
He said, “We have been calling on them to release all of the reports. They can release them. They could have released them yesterday; they can release them today or they can release them tomorrow.”
He added, “But even so, with all the reports they could not find the large scale corruption that they talk about. Look at what they charge people for. So I would find it a miraculous thing that they had this big scandal and every day they were just sitting on it, waiting for 2020 (when elections were originally slated to be held,)… it stretches the imagination.”
“Whether they are APNU, AFC or PPP, our people are smart, they see a dying, desperate, greedy cabal out there, and so I do not have any worry about these reports, no doubt they will get more repressive.”
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