Eagerly awaiting Vice Media report on corruption

Feb 14, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,
With regards to the Vice Media interview, anyone who does not believe that Guyanese politicians (many, not all) and or high government officials (not all) are not corrupt are very naïve or don’t want to deal with the truth. Vice Media’s exposure of corruption may be of no consequence to the population or politicians as the latter don’t care what is said about them. No new information may be brought forward in Vice’s release of its report because Guyanese have become immune to corruption, and they largely know who is on the take. One new piece of information is the VP’s admission that he owns properties, and that he rents out at least one of his buildings to a Chinese national who does business with the Guyana government. Is there any conflict of interest given that he is a member of the cabinet, and a dominant figure, that makes decisions on contracts?
Guyanese have taken corruption for granted. It is a way of life and of doing business. Succeeding governments have been painted with the brush of corruption. It is integral to governance. Policies and programmes are designed or tailored to suit corrupt opportunities and or with kickbacks in mind. Some contracts or contractors seem pre-determined. It is known who will be awarded the contracts with drawback in mind.
Corruption goes back to 1967 right after independence in which several government officials were implicated in kickback schemes by Eusi Kwayana, Peter D’Aguiar, Cheddi Jagan, and others. I recall Mr. Kwayana filing court case against an accused Minister.
I do not proffer to have evidence on corruption or who is on the take. But it is common talk among Guyanese of who is (was) on the take. You talk to ordinary folks and they will give you names and amounts paid to get approval of a licence or a service – but that is small graft, chicken feed bribes that don’t interest the big boys. The big money is in large contracts and land giveaways. Business people, contractors in particular, talk of the huge amount and who they paid to get government contracts or large tracts of land. There is only a handful of ministers (like Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Dr. Frank Anthony, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Joe Hamilton, and Sonia Parag, and a couple of others) in this present government whose names are not tied to draw back. A few are called Mr. 10% or Mr. 15%. The names of several bureaucrats or high officials or Board Directors or CEOs or Managers are also tied to kick back. And some of them also have earned the moniker of the percentages they demand. The public knows the names. Some would go to the hilt of denying they don’t accept bribe or that they are more honest than the Jagans.
The Vice interview will not change anything on how business is done but it will bring corruption to the front burner and it is hoped that Guyanese will start taking an interest in combating corruption. Unfortunately, no action will be taken against the corrupt and no one will be held accountable for wrong-headed policies. As an illustration, we know what happened at Skeldon when US$200M was wasted. We know the 2018 G $30B Guysuco syndicated bond was wasted. No one was brought to account.
That US$350M on Guysuco alone plus hundreds of millions more spent on sugar could have transformed Guysuco and modernise Agriculture. Instead, the bulk of it ended up in pockets of corrupt politicians and business folks.
We read of tender procedures being thrown out the window and of some contract awards determined by officials rather than the tender board.
We learn about staff being compelled to pay for non-existent work. Staff who stood up to wrong doings are removed under succeeding governments.  Many Guyanese believe that being corrupt is a prerequisite for hiring at certain positions in succeeding governments.
Look at the names ofseveral individuals appointed in the ministries or some of those appointed as Directors of state agencies since August 2020. Several of them were implicated in all kinds of fraud schemes pre-2015.
They have been brought back. And then there is the revelation last week that Dr. Rudy Jadoopat, a decent, non-corrupt professional, had been removed as head of EITI and replaced by someone who did propagandistic work for the PPP government. Several other professionals of integrity were replaced.
What message about integrity and honesty is being sent by this and or previous governments?
Is being corrupt a pre-requisite qualification for hiring at certain positions? Is it that those who are most shameless in their activities seem preferred?
In spite of any shortcomings in the interview or effort to discredit Vice Media, Guyanese welcome and eagerly await the investigative report on corruption and contract preference with Chinese companies.
Yours truly,
Balram Gangadeen

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