Audit probe

Sep 28, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – From all appearances, PPP/C Government leaders have become very comfortable with the idea that the Guyanese people are fools, probably the biggest ones anywhere, according to their conclusions. Leaders have convinced themselves that they can come up with any half-baked arrangement, any cock and bull plan, and Guyanese will fall for it. The announcement of a probe into the US$214 million disgrace is one instance of such settled thinking in the ranks of the PPP/C Government.

A probe of what happened, who is involved, and who allowed things to come to this ugly, distorted state, is a positive development. It provides the openings for some clear answers and some good to result. But a probe, any probe that would attract the approval of Guyanese, cannot be spearheaded by anybody from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Confidence in the ministry has never been this low and, most unfortunately, this has to include the man at the top of it, the Hon. Minister, Mr. Vickram Bharrat. In fact, the minister’s role in this tarnishing story of government weakness and likely government skullduggeries has been that of a bystander and a messenger. His trouble is that he is overshadowed by the long, dark presence of Vice President Jagdeo, he is limited in what he is involved with, and how much he can do.

Now, all fingers point to Ministry of Natural Resources personnel being the main participants in the so-called “unauthorized” actions involving the US$214 million ExxonMobil audit. We are told that it is ministry people who took it upon themselves to close-out deals with ExxonMobil for over 90 percent in write-downs from the US$214 million, ostensibly without anybody knowing. Where were the checks and balances? Who has oversight responsibilities over the employees now falling in the category of maverick (to put a kind spin of it); or rogues, to call things as they are? Was the minister at sea during all this time? Was he asleep at the wheel when an ExxonMobil audit was the subject of uncertainties and uneasiness from the inception?

When these disturbing elements are taken into consideration, it is a restatement of the obvious to assert that nobody, not one person or unit, from the Ministry of Natural Resources should have any part in any probe of what occurred with this US$214 million ExxonMobil audit. The ministry has measly credibility, and there are very few in Guyana who would trust its people to do a clean and principled job. This is regardless of whether ministry personnel were, indeed, involved; or, worse still, are the sacrificial lambs for what may have originated in high government circles.

To put people from the Ministry of Natural Resources, or to have the ministry’s employees, near to any probe is an insult to the intelligence of the Guyanese people. In this instance, we support the position of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Aubrey Norton. This foolishness by the PPP/C Government has been tried before, and it is time that it comes to a halt. We have seen the Guyana Police Force and other institutions going through the motions of investigating themselves when wrongdoings are alleged. When those come into being, they are not only exercises that are doomed to failure and endless second-guessing, but they also make a mockery of Guyanese. The PPP/C Government really ought to think deeply and heavily before it engages in these charades about probes that fool no one. Clearly, some type of trickery occurred, so why add what comes across as more trickery to an already worm-infested situation?

Having said this much, the problem is that there are so few institutions (and people) in Guyana that foster trust. When the great bulwarks of clean governance and 21^st century civilization like the media, like the Guyana Police Force and, as many believe, like some segments of the local judiciary have all been tainted in some way, then it is emphasized how poorly this country is led, and by how much it has been damaged. Politicians speak out of their ears, and they deceive to the face, while dragging down this entire society. Trust has vanished, with the Ministry of Natural Resources now the biggest billboard of its flight.

announcement, Editorial, Government, Guyanese, million

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Audit probe

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