It appears, ‘honest and decent’ is just a catch phrase

Jan 08, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

President Granger, at the APNU+AFC campaign launch on January 03, said his Government is composed of honest persons. But is this really the case? Are the persons of the Granger cabal really honest? Let us consider, the following, though they are many examples:-

1. It was reported on August 05, 2015, in another newspaper that “Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman today denied that there will be astronomical pay increases for government ministers and with additional allowances.” Then October 07, 2015 the same newspaper reported “Cabinet Ministers are to see their salaries rise by 50% in a move likely to generate criticism as public servants were given a small salary hike after having been promised a “significant” increase by the APNU+AFC government. Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday said that he would make no apologies for the 50% salary increases to Cabinet ministers, arguing that it is well-deserved.” Hardly the signs of an honest bunch, I would say.

2. The November 23, 2017, Kaieteur News reported that “Finance Minister Winston Jordan has told Kaieteur News that there was no advance payment made to the Government of Guyana by United States oil giant, ExxonMobil.” The December 09, 2017 Kaieteur News then reported “The evidence shows that since last year, the government accepted, and arranged mechanisms, to collect a signing bonus from Exxon. The money, which Kaieteur News understands is to the tune of US$18M, now sits in an account at Bank of Guyana.” How honest was this?

3. The November 22, 2016, a newspaper reported “The D’Urban Park project was financed and managed in its first phase by Homestretch Development Incorporated, a private company owned by Larry London and associates…” The newspaper went on to say “The project, which was initiated in November, 2015, was transferred to the stewardship of Ministry of Public Infrastructure in April of this year after evidence of substandard works on the stands surfaced in the public.” I also saw in the same article that “Patterson had revealed in the House on August 8 that $150 million provided from the Contingencies Fund completed Phase 1 of the project. At that time, he was defending a request in the Supplementary Financial Paper No 1 of 2016 for an additional $407.6 million from the Contingencies Fund for the project. Additionally, the 2015 Auditor General’s report stated that $36.509 million from the Lotto Fund went towards the rehabilitation of D’Urban Park without parliamentary approval.”
It was reported in an October 02, 2017, article in another newspaper that “Also, an additional $500M from the Consolidated Fund was sought by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure in December, 2016 and was approved by the National Assembly.” And then a January 05, 2020 report in yet another newspaper said “The Auditor General’s (AG) 2018 report is out and among its revelations is the fact that the Public Infrastructure Ministry gave $500 million of taxpayers’ money to a private company for the construction of D’Urban Park, then could not account to the Audit Office for how the money was spent.” Was this honest?

It is hard to convince the rational minded that the Government is really what they say they are. Not too long after the President made his remarks, a January 05, 2020 news report revealed “Government has failed to account for over $800 million spent in 2018, according to the Auditor General’s report.” Again, it appears, honest and decent is just a catch phrase without any real meaning.

Yours faithfully,
Patricia Persaud

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