PSC requests sit-down with PPP, PNC, AFC

– expresses concern over prevailing political climate

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has sought a sit-down with the three major political parties in Guyana in an attempt to mediate current political conflicts which it believes are having a negative effect on businesses.

The invitation was extended to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP); the People’s National Congress (PNC) and the Alliance For Change (AFC). In its invitation, the Commission registered concern about the existing political climate between the parliamentary parties.
According to the PSC, this climate could have a negative effect on Guyana’s international image, economic stability and future well-being. The PSC noted that this climate was manifested in headlines carried by the media.
“The Commission, as a consequence, has reached out to and invited the People’s National Congress Reform, People’s Progressive Party/Civic and the Alliance For Change, in their individual capacities, to meet and discuss this unfortunate development with the Commission,” the PSC said on Monday.
Specific invitations were sent to PPP General Secretary and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo; PNCR General Secretary Amna Ally and AFC General Secretary Marlon Williams. There was no mention of anyone from the Working People’s Alliance and Justice for All, two of the parties alongside the PNC in the broader A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), being invited.
Since last year, the coalition Government and the Opposition have been at loggerheads over a number of issues. These include the appointment of a Guyana Elections Commission Chairman, an appointment the PPP has challenged in the courts. The PPP has also accused the Government of several instances of corruption, some of which have been reported to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) even brought charges against two former Government officials last month. Former Finance Minister Ashni Singh and former National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) chief Winston Brassington were charged with misconduct in public office.
Both men appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, who granted them $2 million bail on each of the three joint charges.
But the spectacle of these former officials handcuffed featured prominently in sections of the media. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who was part of the defence team, described the act of handcuffing Singh and Brassington as a dehumanising one that sought to humiliate these two former senior Government officials, who served the country with distinction.
After the Government’s move to charge these former Government officials based on forensic audits it launched after assuming office, the PPP also filed private criminal charges against a number of current Ministers.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan; Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, and Public Service Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine were charged for the alleged breach of the Procurement Act.
This is in relation to the expenditure of $906 million in public funds to a private company, Homestretch Development Inc, for construction of the controversial D’Urban Park Project, which has, for some time now, been a contentious issue. But Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack discontinued the charges.
This is the second set of charges filed by the Opposition that the DPP has thrown out. Just days before, she also discontinued charges against Government Ministers Volda Lawrence and Dr George Norton.
Those charges that were filed respectively over the sole-sourcing of more than $600 million in drugs and other pharmaceuticals for the Georgetown Public Hospital, and the rental of a house in Sussex Street, Albouystown, Georgetown to be used as a drug bond at a cost of $12 million monthly.