No charge filed against a politician has ever come to fruition since they protect each other

May 25, 2021 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
Most businesses and political parties (politicians) don’t care much for ethics or principles and are driven by greed. They have not made sincere efforts to hold Exxon accountable, not in flaring and not in renegotiation of the contract even though they know the country is being cheated. The country stands to lose in excess of US$45B and counting. That is more than enough to make Guyana into a first world country. As Mr. Glenn Lall stated in one of his radio programmes, neither party wants to hold Exxon accountable or renegotiate the contract or enforce local content rules. Businesses and the public should hold politicians and Exxon to greater account so more money can flow into Guyana from oil, enough to make every Guyanese a millionaire in American dollars.
There is hardly any role for decent, hardworking political activists or professionals in getting jobs with government and honest business people in landing state contracts; political connection and unofficial taxes are prerequisites for landing a contract. If businesses unite and take a stand on Exxon, there would be a lot of money for local contracts.
Both parties are alike on the issue of accountability when they were/are in government. The two tend to protect one another. Charges may be filed against politicians (ministers or political bureaucrats), but no charge was ever carried to fruition. They protect each other. Has any business person, politician, government worker ever gone to jail for corruption even when evidence of fraud is overwhelmingly stacked against them? Both governments have dropped charges against the accused of state corruption. Eusi Kwayana rightly asked (in KN) why charges were dropped against several accused.
It appears that if one lacks integrity, one can get hired for the highest and most lucrative positions to oversee big contracts from which huge kickbacks will flow. Lack of integrity and dishonesty are credentials for appointments. Take a look at who is appointed! Absolute loyalists get the top positions; the political bosses must trust you to carry out instructions before you get high posts. Politicians tend not to trust honest workers. If you are honest, dedicated, and hardworking, you will be given consideration for low level jobs or where small amounts of money flow. Political leadership has no interest in small amounts of money; that is not worth their while. The political bosses vie for top positions; those who know how to cover their tracks in transactions. How else would one explain some of the characters, like the man from Florida, who are hired to oversee big projects and state corporations? Almost all of them had or have charges pending for corruption under the previous regime and welcomed back following change in government. Charges dropped!
On state contracts, it does not matter which party you supported in the past. Several of those who financed APNU and AFC in 2015 and 2020 and got big volumes of contracts over the last five years and are now with the PPP. These opportunists know politicians don’t care about party loyalty. Politicians care about their bank accounts. They do what they must to get contracts. Political affiliation is dumped down the drain!
A contractor from Lima, Essequibo abused and chased senior PPP functionaries from his premises and strongly supported the coalition from 2014 to August 2020. He got huge contracts under the coalition. He is now with PPP. There are several other cases of contractors who supported the coalition and now switched to PPP to get contracts.
What have the honest party activists at the bottom, the small contractors, and those business persons who were loyal to the PPP gotten so far? Zilch! They hold hope that something will come their way and the leadership has them in a holding pattern telling them, their time will come. It is a strategy to keep the loyalists in line until the next election when they will get something.
There were activists who protected the ballot boxes for five months, sacrificing their jobs, ignoring their families and are still waiting for a job or a small contract. Some PPP activist families prepared snacks, tea, coffee, and meals and delivered to the ballot box guards. These families are still waiting for a “lil thing” from the government or a promotion at their government jobs. Nothing will come their way because there is nothing for the politicians to gain from such small contracts. No financial gains for politicians. An effective way to get something out of this government it to attack it and hold politicians accountable regardless of political affiliation. Heed the call of Glenn Lall and others in demanding a fair contract so more money is available for development and to hire people.
Yours truly,
Jagnarine K Singh

---

---