New Government, same old issues

Nov 27, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The Auditor General Report for 2021 has confirmed that Guyana is on the same treadmill to nowhere as it regards corruption. It is the same ugly story of crookedness, sliminess, and lawlessness that has characterized prior PPPC Governments, the previous APNU+AFC Government, and now this returning PPPC Government. After its first full year upon its return to office, the PPPC Government does not come across as cleanly as it pretends to be.

Guyanese reality is of both political groups, PPPC and APNU+AFC, delighting in hurling curses and accusations at the other, only for it to come to light that what they denounce the other for doing with the taxpayers’ money, they are doing also. It is the same old Guyana Government story of money budgeted, areas and projects identified, and billions of dollars spent and, with the regular result surfacing later of how tricking and deceiving and cheating of the Guyanese public continue unabated. The season of Government corruption in Guyana is uninterrupted. It may be a PPP/C or an APNU+AFC Government, but there is one powerful and widespread ingredient that speaks to the same thing of the two groups when in government: both steal from the public treasury. They betray the public trust, violate the law, and still live richly and happily ever after. These are constants in Guyana when tax dollars are involved.

Two news articles in this newspaper are sufficient to shed plenty of light on how corruption operates in this country. As embedded in the Auditor General’s Report for 2021, the New GPC received over GY$7B in contracts to supply medical products to the Ministry of Health. The New GPC was the recipient of over 50% of the total amounted budgeted in 2021 for medical supplies, an eyeopener by itself. The nearest other supplier of medical products, in terms of contract dollars awarded, was approximately half of what the New GPC received. This certainly raises reasonable questions, if not concerns, about the disparity in the numbers of one supplier, versus the rest of the other top suppliers that were approved for contracts. It does say something about the capacity and efficiency of one, as opposed to the rest of the pack of medical suppliers. It may also say something significant about reach and influence.

The second issue is that GY$478M of medical supplies are yet to be delivered. It is almost a year later, and almost a half billion dollars in medical supplies have not reached the Ministry of Health. There may be nothing out of place about this, when one considers the problems encountered in 2021 due to the COVID-19 virus. Shipping was clogged and delayed, and items ordered took forever to reach their destination,which was how the Ministry of Health responded to the AG. The New GPC, the Ministry of Health and, by extension, sick Guyanese, have all possibly been victimized by circumstances, which resulted in GY$478M in needed medical products hanging. In passing, it is noteworthy that the AG’s report only mentioned one other supplier (the next highest contract recipient), experiencing similar ‘logistical’ delays. The Health Ministry pointed to its own ‘staggered delivery’ arrangements as a possible contributor. Given this is Guyana, a pinch of salt may be helpful.

In the area of flood relief monies, the AG’s report pointed out that hundreds of millions could not be tracked. The PPP/C Government’s response was that because the priority was delivering urgently needed help to those hit hard by the floods ‘lapses occurred.’ ‘Lapses’ involving hundreds of millions of dollars cover plenty ground. Lapses in actual paying out the money, lapses in who actually received, lapses in who got more flood relief money than they should have, and lapses about those who should not have received any flood money at all.

Interestingly, over $1.6B of flood relief money were not recorded in the books of the Civil Defense Commission, leaving the AG’s staff unable to report where that huge amount ended up. As we think of ‘logistical’ and ‘lapses’ and single sourcing, and blank records, we sense that it is business as usual, with hundreds of millions, possibly billions, disappearing to where only the PPP/C Government and its handpicked officials know.

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