Skullduggeries at GGMC Pt. 2

Dear Editor,
The management level at the GGMC urgently needs a complete overall in order to curb the level of corruption, which remains unchanged even though there were changes in leadership of over two years. The only difference is: the players are operating more discreetly.
When a system is weak, it breeds corruption, and the only way to minimize this is to have persons with strong leadership qualities in command. The corruption level at this institution is an indication that there is an urgent need for the Commissioner to step-up his game to curb the situation, or it will get worse.
Under the leadership of Mr. Robeson Benn, miners have enjoyed the best service from the staff at the GGMC, due to the strong leadership quality that he had demonstrated. A void for a good/strong leader was created at his departure, and this is yet to be filled. If disciplinary action is being introduced from a top-down basis, no one will be eager to be his/her brother’s keeper, and many atrocities will be exposed. This will also bring speedy resolution to matters which urgently needed resolution.
There is an individual who, in my opinion, has the tenacity to go after those involved in crooked behaviours and practices that are affecting the smooth running of this organization. This individual has the ability to reform the Commission in order to acquire the best results, and change the image of the organization, but for some unknown reason/s, this individual was sidelined.
It was once rumoured that the individual was being tipped for the top position, and this sparked uneasiness among some staff. I overheard conversations among individuals lamenting that their ‘Runnings will be cut-out’ if this individual eventually acquires the position. Why then not choose a person of such character to run an organization like the GGMC, which has a high level of corruption, one of the highest in the country.
It is strange that little is being done at the GGMC to curb these practices, while it’s noticeable the changes that are taking place within other organizations, for example, the Police Force and the GRA, with their tough stance against corruption.
While interacting with the Commissioner, it was obvious that some members of the Commission are stubbornly resisting “the authority” for their own ulterior motive, which I think led him to say, “You went to all heights and breadth to say I am covering-up corruption.”
This leads one to wonder why these officers are holding back the findings of the reports, when these matters have drawn the attention of the highest office of the land and a wide cross-section of the Guyanese society. The Commissioner had even made mention, at our January 24th meeting, how far I was willing to go to get resolutions into our matters, but he still remains reluctant to release the findings of the reports that I had requested. Is it covering-up or collusion that is taking place? These are questions that are starting to plague my mind.
Why the delays? Is it to make the Government look bad in the hope of a change of Government at the next pole? If those crooks could go so far as to resist the request for the resolution of our matters at Kurupung from the highest order of the land, I do not want to know of their other capabilities. There are some officials who are claiming the delays are being created by some individuals within the organization, who are trying to cover their tracks and make the administration look bad. It seems as though the Commissioner has developed a new normal of sending persons to the court to resolve their matters, instead of him doing the right thing of taking a tough stance against corruption, the root cause of many of the small miners’ problems.
I am certain if the monies were to come from his salary or the salaries of many of these officials to pay those high-power lawyers, they would have chosen another course of action.
It is heart-rending for us as tax payers to be paying our taxes in the hope that the Government would be able to provide a better life for our children, only for the same monies to be spent on retaining high-profile lawyers to defend the atrocities that are being committed against us. It would be better spent if the Commissioner chooses to do the right thing.
There are many matters which need urgent attention. Some have their genesis as far back as 1996, and the situations have been compounded by recent events.
Those matters have stymied the mining activities at Kurupung and turned it into a “ghost town”. Kurupung is the best known diamond bearing area of the country, and if there is an early resolution into our land situation, I am certain this community will spring back to life.
Without the availability of those lands that the crooks at the GGMC did all sorts of skullduggeries with, it is unlikely the diamond industry will be able to meet the 50% increase in production that Hon. Minister Broomes has projected for this year. The Commissioner may not want to release the findings of the reports due to what can be revealed and the persons who will be implicated in these barbaric acts.
Some may turn out to be his close associates, so he may choose to sweep the various matters under the table. With all that’s going on, the best solution will be an independent team of investigators to probe these matters. There is an old saying, ‘you cannot try the devil in hell and have favourable results.’ There is enough evidence to prove that high levels of corruption took placed with our lands at Kurupung. An investigation will be able to ascertain the level of involvement, and determine who did what, so they can be disciplined appropriately.

Sincerely,
Suffering miner