Latest update October 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 12, 2024 Letters
Guyana and Guyanese may be spared of kick down door banditry although bicycle gang robbery and choke and rob are still prevalent. Over the last three years, robberies have been replaced by government officials managed mafia operations to rip off the state of millions.
The ordinary bandits and graft recipients in offices cannot compete with mafia operations run by functionaries of the government. The government officials enjoy protection of the state and they also get huge contracts facilitated by government agencies and even receive payment for work not done because of nepotism and friendship. As an illustration, it is noted that the country is enjoying a construction boom including in massive concrete infrastructure projects. Roads are built with concrete instead of asphalt. Has anyone wondered why? One high official of the government owns four companies supplying concrete. One can’t escape purchasing concrete from the four companies.
The companies are making a killing supplying concrete, some of which are below the paid for PSI. The four companies get all the state contracts (regardless of the contractor) to supply concrete. Contractors must buy concrete from them at artificially high prices. Consumers are paying higher rates and the tax payers are saddled with the debt to pay for the government projects. Similarly, consumers are paying dearly for over-priced chicken that is kept artificially high to benefit one major chicken producer.
The same government person who owns the four concrete companies also has a huge chicken farm and he also own several trucking companies, construction companies, paving companies, among others. Chicken price is kept artificially high to benefit his company. And we read of the scams of giving contracts to foreigners because of big draw backs. Guyanese contractors are disregarded or shafted in preference for the cunning foreigners. We read in SN (Apr 10) that a company sued the government for an extra US$90 M for work on the Wales power generating plant. Apparently, work had stopped over money.
That project is running a year behind with cost overruns. Isn’t that sufficient ground for government to terminate the contract? Why is that company retained? And worse why is that company given other contracts like the oil refinery? Why is government doing business with a company that takes us to court? Did someone tell the company to go to the court? Or is it a case where officials in the government advised the company to sue the government in order to milk more money from the contract? With the level of corruption afflicting this government, one can’t put anything pass some very corrupt officials.
The entire country suffers with high prices from the mafia operations of several officials in government and of those who are well connected with the two big men in governance. Two years ago we were told the electricity plant would be fourteen cents a KW. With cost of the project having tripled since then, wont the cost of electricity also triple to forty cents? Isn’t current GPL still cheaper that the Wales plant?
Guyanese are very fortunate that crooked officials have a political avenue for their cunningness and deviousness to enrich themselves. Otherwise, the officials would have run amok with the worst form of kick down door banditry ever experienced in the country.
Yours truly,
Nigel Pilgrim
October 1st turn off your lights to bring about a change!
Oct 23, 2024
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