The Good Old Corruption vs The New Evil One

Oct 11, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Corruption in any country’s government or state entity is unavoidable, but good management and controls can keep it below five percent or less of GDP or business revenue so the country or state entity can survive financially. Growing up and working at GuySuCo and with the Regional Government, corruption was everywhere, with all kinds of dealings of the sugar estates’ assets and same with the regional government. If you wanted any kind of document or contract from the regional government, somebody had to be paid off, many items from GuySuCo were on sale on the black market like cane punt chains, office stationery, fertilizer, pesticides, rat poison, sugar, grease, fuel, vehicle and machine spare parts, etc.

There was also the ingenious and laughable of how items were pilfered and resold or for personal use, some security personnel replaced the good batteries from the torchlights with dead ones and sold them at a discount which came in handy during the plaguing blackouts, one man stole sugar and tried to sell it to the family of a senior manager of GuySuCo and got caught, the dairy section was always reporting half of the milk produced as spillage, and one of the best was when one man stole the black-eye peas used for planting and when he learned they were chemically treated, ran home shouting from a distance to his wife’s “gal throw away the cook-up rice the peas gat pizen”. Fortunately for them his wife hadn’t cook the peas as yet, there are so many stories like these, also there were many supervisors and managers submitting fake overtime and expense claims.

Even if one was not directly involved in the corruption, it touched you one way or the other, the drinks flowed in the rum shops, everyone who could have bought something on discount did, as the times were tough for many. I, not fond of wrongdoing asked one man why is he doing this, his response was firstly, the big people in the high offices cook the books and take their piece, secondly, we are Guyanese, and this is ours and thirdly, do you want to buy cheap from him or expensive from the price-gouging shopkeepers? I had to reluctantly agree with him. However, this was the good old corruption, although not right but Guyana then belonged to Guyanese, our oil, gold, diamonds and other minerals, bauxite, timer, state lands and state assets were all ours.

At the start of this century in Guyana, a new evil corruption began, in which the patrimony of Guyanese were sold out to foreigners, our oil, gold, diamonds and other minerals, bauxite, timer, state lands and state assets, tax, import duties and concessions leaving Guyanese with debit, poverty and reducing them to second-class citizens in their own country. To the PPP, PNC and AFC politicians who sold out the patrimony of Guyanese, what did this country and people did to you all for selling them out? Other than giving you all high positions, high paying jobs, expense accounts, other perks, housing, drivers and vehicles, etc? Why are you all ducking, dodging, bobbing, and weaving from questions on contracts renegotiations, accountability and transparency in the oil and other resource sectors and trying like magicians to hide records and information we know are there?

The current VP other than the fours of the Granger-rule had a senior voice in government all this time, can he or his followers explain why he has done and is currently doing for this country, his vision, his motives, his objectives? I can’t figure it out, is he being blackmailed? Being threatened? Just being selfish, greedy, and corrupt? Is he on brain medication? The VP was on The Glenn Lall Show and instead of him being excited on the window of opportunity to renegotiate the oil contract was mostly excited on how many times Brassington sued Glenn Lall.

Third World leaders do the most stupid version of corruption, they sell their country’s patrimony and deposit the money in foreign banks where the bank managers make seven plus figures in salaries and bonuses in CAD$, USD$, GBP and Euro$. Developed countries leaders use their corrupted money to invest in their own countries creating jobs and economic activity and give to charities. The PPP, PNC and AFC politicians who sold out the patrimony of Guyanese should give some of the proceeds to charities for the poor and needy, after all its these people’s wealth they sold out, also by doing so they will make some peace with God, for when the day of reckoning comes these sellout politicians will need this peace.

R. David

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The Good Old Corruption vs The New Evil One

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