Opposition gives Govt A grade for corruption

Although the Opposition has given the coalition Government a failing grade for its performance in almost all sectors, it said the Administration has earned an ‘A’ for corruption.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo spared no effort in criticising the Government for its performance over the past three years. He also made a mockery of the 200-plus achievements that were listed in a supplement that appeared in a national newspaper this past weekend.
“There are tonnes of corrupt practices and incidents that we have pointed out, and they have refused to address. We no longer use our procurement laws because what has happened is direct sourcing,” he said.
In three short years, Jagdeo posited that the coalition Government has managed to completely bypass the public procurement process mandated by law, and has handed to its cronies and financiers, hundreds of contracts to the value of billions of dollars.
The former Head of State said that some 25,000 jobs were lost since the coalition took office. In addition to that, a slew of new taxes were imposed on Guyanese and the business community. But more than that, the economy has seen some of the worst growth rates in years.
“On the economy and their plans, they are failing there too. They are running down our reserves and the economy is declining. In terms of competence, just look at Basil Williams and… (Nicolette) Henry and that will tell you what we are talking about. And nothing for youths,” he added.
Jagdeo made reference to the Government listing plans for the oil and gas sector as an achievement, when in fact none of the draft bills have been completed or is nowhere close to completion. There is still much fine-tuning being done in preparation for the sector, but with limited consultation.
“So, competence F, economy F, corruption…they should get a grade A for corruption. That’s the only one they get a great chance. Taxes F, jobs F, and crime F too.” He said these were far more important areas, rather than the amount of seminars hosted in Guyana.
Government has been facing much heat from the political Opposition as well as civil society. It has been criticised for the controversial Sussex Street bond, the Hope Wind Farm project, a $605 million sole-sourced drug contract, and the handpicking of a Dutch firm to conduct a feasibility analysis on a new Demerara Harbour Bridge, among other issues.
Additionally, Government has faced flak for collecting a US$18 million bonus from oil giant ExxonMobil last year. Despite being asked repeatedly about it, Government did not come clean until proof of the transaction came to light.

Progress
Meanwhile, despite these criticisms, President David Granger said that the achievements of the coalition Government over the last three years in office were significant and could not be disputed.
These achievements, he said, range from increases in public servant wages and old age pensions to suppressing piracy and most importantly, getting the age-old border controversy with Venezuela to the International Court of Justice for the first time since Independence.
Speaking to media operatives after an accreditation ceremony at State House, the Head of State said that even in those areas where there has been progress, Government recognised that there was still much more that needed to be done as he pointed out that “sometimes commentators tend to underestimate the difficulties we face in terms of our finance, international relations, and crime and security, but I think that sober analysts would see that we have made tremendous progress.”
Notwithstanding the progress made thus far, the President said there were still challenges to overcome in the economy and in the area of crime and security, including breaches in the prison system. Additionally, there are now new challenges on the horizon as the petroleum sector gets ready to take off.
Meanwhile, when asked about the possibility of further changes to the Cabinet, the Head of State responded that he did not envisage any addition to the Cabinet in terms of new ministries. He said that the coalition Government has been working well with the 15 main Ministries and the focus going forward would be on overcoming existing challenges.
May 16 marked the third anniversary of the coalition Administration in office after winning the 2015 General and Regional Elections.