SARA: An Albatross on growth of Guyana’s economy, democracy

Dear Editor,

Dr Clive Thomas has been writing for decades about the phantom/underground/parallel economy in Guyana. Enumerating some fantastical numbers, such as those penned in another section of the media on February 16, 2017, and captioned “SARU Defends Assets Recovery Bill – says country was bleeding $313 billion per annum” and captioned in Kaieteur News on the same date as “Guyana was losing over $300B annually through corruption under PPP”. Not to be exceeded, another headline article on the same date states: “$306B stolen per year under PPP …SARU says uncovered massive scale of corruption.”

The $313 billion the country is supposedly losing per annum is sourced from undefined metrics, with numbers that are unverifiable. The substance of the reporting from the newspapers relate with varying numbers that reference: “The nation was losing $28-$35 billion each year through procurement fraud. In relation to capital flight, the nation was losing $90 billion every year. Furthermore, the underground economy caused the nation to lose $188 billion per year… adding up to a grand total of $313 billion per year, which is a conservative figure.”

It is unfortunate that the emergence of SARU has adversely affected the efforts by our Honourable Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who is trying mightily to set our economic ship on course for improved economic growth. Instead, the imminence of SARA, among other factors, has our commercial banks unable to provide on demand, United States Dollars (US) to its clients, who have US accounts. Basic wire transfers, from as little as US$500, have to go into bank trays for processing that can take over a week to process. During the “wait” period, if the exchange rate weakens, the customer has to pay more for the US, if the transfer is ever made.

The general thrust of the post-May 2015 Government is to spend an extraordinary amount of time and money to set up a so called “apparatus of anti-corruption” units, led by the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU). Hopefully, common sense will prevail and the Bill never becomes an Act. If it does, it will, in my opinion, reduce the GDP per capita and the growth of the Guyanese economy and permit inhumane acts. We are creating a monster with powers that no politician of any party ought not to have as their creature to obey the bidding of the party in power.

The folly of the “underground economy” analysis (it is reasonable to assume that a thorough analysis was done) is the complete lack of a comparative analysis as to what obtains in other countries, be it Trinidad, Jamaica or the USA, with regards to procurement fraud, capital flight and the underground economy. One cannot justify the numbers supplied by Professor Thomas without context.

If the USA Empire cannot keep drugs to any discernable degree from entering the country since the “war on drugs started’, it is foolhardy to think that Guyana, with its wide-open and unprotected borders and airways, can impact drug smuggling and the use of Guyana as a drug transhipment country in any significant way.

Another black polar bear argument by Dr Thomas or SARU (the two seem undistinguishable) is that “The Guyana population is eager to see the country’s assets recovered”. My question for those on the SARU bandwagon is: where is the starting point for the recovery of assets? Is it from the first rigged election in 1968 that sustained through to 1991 in post-independent Guyana? It should be easy to make a case for property transfers, whether by deed, gift, sale or discounted sale, to be recovered that took place over the rigged election period. Of course, leases could also be revoked for reasons of lack of legality, during the 1968 to 1991 period.

The unfree and unfair elections that Dr Thomas struggled to expose, whether as leader of the University of Guyana, Ratoon group and/or as a co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance, when he protested vehemently against the authors of the rigged elections. Be it the rigged elections in 1968, 1973, 1980, 1985 or the 1978 referendum that birthed us with the infamous 1980 Constitution of Guyana.

The words of Dr Walter Rodney, the Guyanese born and world renowned historian, activist intellectual, politician and brother of the working class, who embraced multiracialism, and with whom Professor Thomas struggled alongside for free and fair elections are notable here.

Dr Rodney, when referring to the 1978 referendum in a speech, stated: “the people are usually asked to vote on whether they would like to vote in the future and they invariably reply no… it’s an amazing trend in the world, however, after the Guyanese people voted no, according to the Government, 90 per cent of us said no, although only 10 per cent of us went to the polls”.

Dr Thomas and several others in the leadership of the WPA seem to have abandoned the working class of Guyana, some openly, others by hiding or writing in the margins on flippant matters or shadow boxing around the substantive and controversial issues of the day; by always attempting to reference something worse that happened under the previous government, and never referencing the awesome and inspiring struggles of Rodney at the height of illegality, brutality and disenfranchisement in Guyana. These “colleagues” of Dr Rodney seem to have disavowed the doctrine of Walter Rodney, which is very relevant and much needed in Guyana today.

All Guyanese need to fully embrace the writings, pronouncements and sacrifice made by Walter Rodney and resist the formation of oppressive institutions, division of our people and harsher living conditions, before it is too late.

The positions Dr Clive Thomas has been assigned post-May 2015 Elections are multiple: 1) Presidential Advisor, 2) Head of SARU, 3) Chairman of GuySuCo and 4) Commissioner on the GuySuCo Commission of Inquiry.

Dr Thomas is now deeply and comfortably entrenched in the bosom of the APNU/AFC Government. No conflicts there that the blind can see.

It seems to me that the powers that be in the Coalition have an unhealthy fixation on Pradoville 2, particularly the property occupied by former Executive President of Guyana, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the obsession goes beyond reason and logic and is divisive, counterproductive and to a large extent, has brought the beast known as SARU into existence. It is inevitable that over time, if SARU ever becomes SARA, it will be an extremely powerful apparatus for witch-hunting, persecution and be answerable to the beck and call of the politicians’ in power. We have already taken the ex-President to court on some wispy charge, considering all that obtains in Guyana during the pre-election period. Now to make him homeless! What an admixture of wasted energy, focus and resources; all with very bad intentions that will result in long-term negative repercussions for Guyanese.

In concluding, here is a nugget on the current wrecking of Guyana’s Sugar Industry: I would not go as far as the German Philosopher – Arthur Schopenhauer, who claimed the writings of another German Philosopher, Georg Hegel, was written in a manner to deliberately obfuscate. Instead, I note that for decades Dr Thomas has written about Guyana’s sugar industry and how it could be revitalised and made viable. Now with Dr Thomas as Chairman of GuySuCo, the crisis in the sugar industry has accelerated – it does cause one to wonder as to the usefulness of his research and lengthy writings.

Sincerely,

Nigel Hinds