No agency devoid of massive corruption, bribery and fraud

Dear Editor,
There seems to be no governmental agency in Guyana that is devoid of massive corruption, bribery and fraud, which only spells doom and disaster for our beloved country, particularly with the coming of first oil in a few months.
The most recent agency exposed in such transgressions is the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for which some of its operatives have been discovered sneaking around accessing tenders that they should not have, tampering with them, and as a consequence, making a complete mockery of the tender process of Guyana.
Of course, such lurid goings-on at NPTAB have been an open secret for a very long time now as there has been for a while, a hullabaloo by some contractors, companies and even by the public, of the skewed manner in which only some entities and individuals are awarded contracts, many times for which they are ill-equipped and trained to do.
Even worse, recordings of telephone conversations with very damning information are coming to the surface, involving claims that some senior operatives are coaching their juniors into committing perjury.
So now that the cover has been blown at NPTAB and everyone is running for cover, there seems to be a sudden PR blitz coming from that office with unprecedented levels of public announcements, releases and awareness programmes in what is obviously a smokescreen intended to confuse the public about the real happenings there.
The hypocrisy of a very senior official there, who in a recent statement to the press claimed that he was not a politician, is quite laughable as in the 2015 campaign season, he was very visible at all of the stops of the ‘Unity Train’ and at the campaign rallies of a certain political party, and who since the elections, has been rewarded with lucrative positions on several State boards. This is quite evident as on one hand, he is holding himself out to be a beacon of moral rectitude while on the other hand, is now alleged to be giving a heads up to junior staffers as it relates to covering up the current saga.
If Guyana is to improve its rankings on international indexes on corruption, it is important that agencies such as the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board be staffed by young, competent, qualified, decent and apolitical individuals.

Sincerely,
Roseanne Rodgers