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Private sector corruption

Oct 15, 2021 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Guyanese could talk forever about corruption in this country, and with justification, since there is so much of it that weighs on us, with countless costly failures. It could be sectoral failure, or people failure, but corruption is the climate of the regular Guyanese day. When Guyanese rail against corruption it is, almost without fail, about government corruption, old ones or this one. There is enough ammunition for that also, since we are up to our foreheads in corruption at the State level. There is another area of corruption that is unnoticed, operates under the radar, with not much said about it. This would be about the corruption in the private sector that finds firmer footing today.
At the departmental level in the private sector, corruption is reported by the small, independent contractors who hustle a living in such areas as plumbing, air conditioning, and other general repairs and maintainance activities. The men making the decision of which contractor is to be given the job/contract on a long-term basis have gained a certain kind of reputation that puts them almost on par with what goes on in government. They give the lucrative jobs to their friends, or to those who would give them the biggest cut. Sometimes, the responsible managers even award jobs and contracts to those who lack the competence, who do hit and miss work that cost much more, but also provide opportunity to milk the company’s treasury more often. The better qualified ones losing out cannot complain, since they are almost guaranteed never to see the inside of that company’s offices again, should they not go along with the games played, in the hope that some scraps will be thrown their way.
The more this happens, the more the expense side of doing business adds up, and when spread over fleets of vehicles and building complexes, the pickings can be pretty to receiver(s), but costly for payer(s). Those costs are then passed on to the public in higher prices, perhaps less quality service. Internally, there is less for the benefit of workers. In sum, people pay the price for the corruptions that occur in the private sector. People pay when they are wrongly denied credit, when they are subject to red tape in different private sector institutions that bend those same rules to favour more well-heeled and well-connected customers. As in government where cronies who are less than legitimate are favoured, it is the same way that some clients in the private sector, who should be on ‘watch’ lists because of the high risks they pose, are facilitated with the freedom to run rings around whatever rules and procedures are in place. Financial institutions aid them and financial experts join in the mutually rewarding fun. We suggest thinking of taxes and money laundering, for a start. Somehow, the smaller people always have to line up and ensure that whatever business they wish to do pass every tough scrutiny.
But the worse type of private sector corruption occurs with those men and businesses that team up with government to rob the treasury. That is, when influential men in the private sector have nothing to say because they claim to see nothing or know of anything that is wrong regarding how government conducts the business of the people. In the same manner the small private contractor, normally a one-man show, has to keep his or her mouth shut, so as to get a piece of the action from private businesses. The big private sector outfits know what is wrong, but must keep out of such, if they are to benefit from rich State contracts. There is nothing new about this, but what is different in Guyana is that the powerful private sector men and women have conspicuous presence in religious and other prominent places in society.
When their presence drain civil society of the required energy and interest to speak to what is right, what is safe, and what could be prospering for all Guyanese, the worst of corruption live and flourish. This way, the Government and the private sector become a reciprocally reinforcing exclusive club to the detriment of the great majority.

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