The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is drowning in a cesspool of outlandish, clumsy and instantly exposed lies. They are drowning because that cesspool is a consequence of a belly of corruption. Every day, there is another lie and, every day, there is another corruption exposed. Last week, in a published commentary (see my FB page), I referenced the mind-boggling corruption of a sole-sourced contract for the Demerara Harbour Bridge feasibility study. Since May 2015, there has been an unprecedented proportion of large contracts that have been sole-sourced. Sole-sourcing is now not only a common practice, it is APNU/AFC’s preferred-method for procurement.
Having been exposed by diligent work by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and Gail Teixeira, the PPP Parliamentary Whip; Minister Patterson, a senior member of the APNU/AFC Cabinet, tried to respond by blatantly lying. He informed the Guyanese people that the 6 million sole-sourced contract was paid for by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He now admits that the IDB was not involved in the Demerara Harbour Bridge feasibility study, insisting he got his bridge wrong and that he was referring to the Wismar Bridge. The Wismar Bridge assertion is now also proven false. We should not be fooled, it was a deliberate, just-plain stupid lie, seeking cover from the IDB. Minister Patterson had hoped that by invoking the IDB, the sole-sourcing scandal will have international imprimatur and reduce public scrutiny. Not only has he been caught blatantly lying again, he also owes the IDB an apology for assaulting its integrity.
Minister Patterson’s clumsy ruse, using the IDB for cover, failed to rescue his APNU/AFC colleagues. They have been caught red-handed once again, for the umpteenth time, with their hands in the bag. When will they learn they cannot live for a sustained period in a cesspool of lies? They are presently lying about procurements, sugar, rice, gold, oil, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), harassment of political opponents and public servants, Amerindian land-titling, the politicisation of the Judiciary and the security forces, constitutional bodies like the Local Government Commission and the Integrity Commission, etc.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge IDB lie is truly clumsy, but it is also a manifestation of the gross and unfathomable level of incompetence that paints this Government. Incompetence, unfortunately, is a staple for APNU/AFC. Just as we can identify a stupid lie, another corruption every day, we can also identify another example of incompetence each and every day, just as frequent as blackouts and medicine shortages.
The recent cancellation of the contract for the construction of the Diamond Vehicular Overpass is a prime example of incompetence. Patterson explains that the cancellation of the contract to build Guyana’s first vehicular overpass was because the land where the overpass would have ended on the western end was sold by “somebody” before the APNU/AFC took over the Government in 2015. I do not know if this is true or not, but it does not matter.
What matters is the frightening incompetence surrounding this contract. For a vehicular overpass to be constructed, some kind of feasibility study must have been conducted. For a Government to embark on a tendering and contracting process, they must have known where the overpass would be constructed and whether the land was available. This was done, for instance, with the Berbice Bridge. The PPP knew from the feasibility study that the land where the bridge was to be constructed involved a number of house lots occupied by residents. Those lands were acquired and Moses Nagamootoo was the lawyer representing Government. This was done before any tendering and contracting process to build the access road. It is a simple, basic and well-known requirement. But for APNU/AFC, this is too complicated and way beyond their competence level.
The fact is that their incompetence is so stark they cannot wiggle out of the cesspool they are drowning in. Making lying about everything an integral component of its governance blueprint is political malfeasance. We will soon hear President Granger lying in his justification of his delay in the appointment of the GECOM Chairman. Minister Norton will soon lie as he justifies the redirection of Basic Needs Funds to support his political work in the Amerindian community in 2018. APNU/AFC is drowning Guyana in its belly of corruption, nothing less.
