Dear Editor,
I had to smile at the lean coverage of the so-called independent media on the leaked Auditor-General Report for 2018— the AG Report used to trigger many months of PPP/C bashing. Names used to be named, ministers used to be called out, and reporters used to give their very best in investigative reporting. Imagine the report, which is traditionally released around September, if it was not leaked, taxpayers would not have gotten a glimpse of what our Government cooked up more than a year ago.
The APNU/AFC cabal has not only nullified the Constitution with the help of the Courts, obviously but all checks and balances with it as well.
I have identified the following more egregious headlines because APNU/AFC came to power promising to tackle these exact issues and of course to eradicate corruption and deliver good governance:
1. In excess of G$800M unaccounted for
2. Unauthorised spending from the Consolidated Fund
3. Tax concessions nearly doubled in 2018
4. Rampant corruption in drug purchases in the Regions – Page 417 of the AG Report
5. Contracts being awarded outside public tender
6. Complete disregard for the AG recommendations
We are now seeing the award of nearly a billion-dollar contract for a capital project to a known Government supporter just before the elections in a new fiscal year by a Government that is without legal footing and without a budget. This is a contract, just like the oil and parking meter which the people of Guyana will be saddled with.
We are also seeing the gifting of tens of thousands of acres of land to APNU/AFC cronies which were seized from legitimate farmers. In 2019, we learned of excessive Government spending and racking up of significant debt at the central bank. Again, these are debts on the backs of all Guyanese taxpayers, current and future.
Readers will note that the Auditor-General Report for the fiscal year 2019 will not be ready for some time yet, so the full extent of the corruption and thievery will not be known if it ever will be known. It is a rank shame that the AG findings for 2019, which is key to judging an administration’s performance, is not available to enlighten the campaign trail.
However, if the above is anything to go by, 2019 was most certainly a blockbuster year for corruption at all levels in this APNU/AFC caretaker administration. I have to further conclude that over the last 4.5 years, there was an inverse relationship between corruption and the reporting and interest in it. This indicates how desensitised we have become.
In these times, I have to ask whither Messrs Ram and Goolsarran, our foremost anti-corruption, transparency and good governance gurus.
Sincerely,
Ravi Ram
