Dear Editor,
In Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), there are three ‘gentlemen’ who have been referred to as the “three AFC musketeers” in the Moving Guyana Forward chat group, and they are marketing themselves as the mouth pieces of Ministers of the Government, feeling that they could capitalise on the gullibility of some residents, thereby reaping the fruits of corruption.
In Guyana generally, there is an accepted norm that once you are seen in the company of the Ministers, interacting and probably drinking together, then you are in a position to get favours from these Ministers. These three Alliance For Change (AFC) executive members are always in some Minister’s company when they visit Region Six; misleading some people to conclude that these charlatans can extract favours from the Ministers on their behalf.
One of these AFC members used the CIIP workers as though they were his private employees and is now a ‘secret’ contractor in the region. The other works with the Public Infrastructure Ministry and has been collecting bribes from contractors to get them contracts from Public Infrastructure Ministry; while the third one is a professional conman who collected bribes from a businessman from Albion and one from Skeldon offering to get them chicken import licences among other ‘services’. These ‘gentlemen’ have been the subject of much discussion in the Moving Guyana Forward chat group.
Recently, these three AFC members made visits to Manchester, Albion, Kildonan, Black Bush and other People’s National Congress and People’s Progressive Party strongholds, offering to build streets and install street lights if the residents could only sign up as AFC members, which some residents have been doing. This matter was raised at our Regional Democratic Council (RDC) statutory meeting since April this year and the Regional Executive Officer (REO) had promised to investigate the matter since it is the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the RDCs function to make budgetary proposals for these works and not some AFC members. Therefore, for these AFC executive members to do so is fraudulent misrepresentation and misleading. The AFC is ‘dead meat’ and this is a sinister strategy to show that the AFC’s membership is actually increasing and not dying as foretold by Ramjattan.
I also spoke to some contractors who expressed their utter disgust with the corrupt behaviour of the ‘musketeers’. They claimed that any time they see these guys they have to hide since they are forced to fork out thousands of dollars to buy drinks at some popular liquor restaurant; be it Rose Hall or Skeldon. These guys have expensive appetites as well! These contractors claimed also that the profits they make have to be shared in so many ways making the contracts unprofitable!
Last Saturday, one of these guys was on television addressing the privatisation of the Guyana Sugar Corporation and made some statements which are quite contrary to what is said by the Special Purpose Unit and the Agriculture Minister. He claimed to actually know the name of the buyer of Skeldon Estate. This was meant to let the public feel that he is very close to the decision makers so that the public will have more confidence in him when he does his ‘field trips’.
These AFC executive members are expert marketers and have created their own niche in the ‘corruption market’ in Guyana and their leaders are silent since they are also members on the Moving Guyana Forward chat group and are aware of everything written in this letter. But the ‘pot cannot call the kettle black’!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
RDC Councillor,
Region Six
