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Public servants are the vanguards of Guyana’s oil wealth
…failure to strengthen them leaves country open to rampant wastage, abuse –Expert warns
Kaieteur News – One of the knee-jerk reactions of many new oil producing countries like Guyana, is that governments tend to opt for raising the salaries of the public servants. But while there is a change in the salary being received, there is often none towards the attitudes, approaches, and procedures the said public servants use to protect the nation’s new found wealth.
If this is not handled with a sense of urgency, Local Content Expert and Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul believes Guyana runs the risk of leaving its oil money open to abuse since the public servants who are supposed to be the vanguards of the national purse have not been strengthened.
Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul
The Trinidadian offered this perspective during an appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s show, Guyana’s Oil and You. On that programme, Paul said Guyana would need to change the whole public service construct so that it can ensure the expenditure of its oil revenues are governed by the highest levels of transparency and accountability. The Energy Strategist said, “You need accountable officers, officers with the right quality and give them the right tools and procedures that allow them to do their jobs efficiently. You see, one of the drawbacks of having a broken public service system is that the politicians are not being held accountable. So politicians for example, end up making decisions without the proper procedures. In my country this happens quite often…We lost billions because of it.”
Paul added, “I believe that responsible behaviour should be rewarded but there should also be sanctions if public servants aren’t doing their jobs properly. Look at what happens in China, when someone is not doing their work properly, they go to jail, the same happens in Singapore…”
Since public servants are the vanguards of the public purse and the nation’s new found wealth, the Energy Strategist said he would strongly recommend that Guyana puts measures in place to make its public service is responsible, efficient and made more robust while adding that there should be consequences for breaking rules.
Also integral to the accountability process he articulated, is a strong civil society. In this regard, the Energy Strategist said citizens need to be educated on what to look for. He said they must be equipped with knowledge on how to challenge public servants, companies, the government and even Parliament. He said that this is where the important work of the media comes in. One place he said the local press can start is by pressing for disaggregated information on the exploration, production and development costs. He said Guyanese have a right to know how every drop of their oil is being recovered. “Your job is to educate the people and also hold stakeholders to account. That is such a critical aspect of the accountability chain that hardly gets spoken about but it is important to democracy,” the official said. With a fortified public service, interrogative press corps, and a vigilant civil society, Paul proffered that the new oil producing State will be successful in its bid to avoid some of the debilitating perils of the resource curse.
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