Bad governance and corruption – the scourge of our society's success
The Alliance for Change Column
Kaieteur News
February 25, 2007
[An abridged version, with minor modifications, of speech delivered on the Budget Debate in the National Assembly on Friday 9th February, 2007 by Khemraj Ramjattan, AFC Leader.]
Madam Speaker, some three decades ago and whilst a very active PYO member, I recall being led by Comrades Cheddi and Janet Jagan in protests all over Berbice, condemning the outrageous denial of newsprint to break the viability of the Mirror Newspaper by the then Burnhamite dictatorship.
I use to follow those famous two and their lieutenants, some of whom I see across the floor here today. They use to preach the virtue of freedom of expression and denounce all the devices used to erode this right which right they regarded as the foundation of a democratic order.
Today, sadly, I have to denounce this PPP/C's shameless use of the device of denial of Government's advertisements to break the financial viability of the Stabroek News. This inconsistency reveals a tendency towards an inevitably creeping Burnhamism which I honestly felt was forever banished from this land. But how wrong I was!
That is why, Madam Speaker, I want to preamble my Budget address with the Stabroek's
headline: “This government is misusing taxpayers' funds in an effort to suppress this newspaper.”
Budgeting in the context of a Guyanese scenario is never easy, Madam Speaker. There will be criticisms coming, notwithstanding how good a Finance Minister marshals all those facts and statistics. Especially when it is being advocated to and addressed at those who largely are in one or all of these categories - cynics, skeptics and the indifferent
Madam Speaker, I want to begin by stating that a Budget must have at its core those appropriate principles and policies designed to effect further economic, institutional, and social transformation of our country and the masses of its people.
These are to be effected within the next twelve months or such longer period, to ameliorate the condition of the poor, and further facilitate the efficiencies of the not-so-poor, and the rich. All of this being done with the intention to incrementally upgrade the condition and improve the lives of Guyanese.
The Honourable Finance Minister went at great lengths to advocate that all of these were contained in his Budget. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
To do something major, to do a great piece in a first endeavour would require a certain individuality. I do not see that well-known brilliance of Dr. Ashni Singh here in this his first Budget presentation.
Rather, I see the mediocrity of a former Minister of Finance, since elevated; and the using of a brilliant messenger to make it saleable. This kind of artificial arrangement must not be the basis for the designing of our economic and developmental architecture, nor our yearly expenditure spread-sheet.
Like any good builder, our economic czars must test the foundation first before commencing constructing a structure. And they must inform all and sundry of the state of the foundation, so as to rationalise what it is they are building.
This Budget fails miserably in informing us about our foundations, the existing reality of our state of affairs! It is a Budget which seeks to play politics with our economics. This is its biggest weakness. When it comes to important matters such as the financing of our country for the year, the allocating of its resources, the remedying of earlier defects, we must transcend political gravitations! The truth of the state of our economy must be laid bare!
Now if we had transcended political gravitations what would we have realized? We would have realized that Guyana is an extremely difficult place to create wealth, notwithstanding our huge resources in almost everything including now, it appears, uranium.
Let me quote from a survey done by the World Bank - “ Guyana 's Investment Climate at a Glance” - to point out how appalling we are doing, especially in the areas of governance and corruption.
Percentage of firms that do not trust the Judicial system = 15 %
Percentage of firms that do not trust the Government = 20 %
Bribes on Government contracts ( % of contract value) = 15.3 %
Payments “to get things done” ( % of annual sales) = 3.5 %
Percentage of firms experiencing a crime = 39 %
Days to clear customs for imports = 20 days
Days to clear customs for exports = 14 days
Is it any wonder why doing business in Guyana or wanting to invest here require a Herculean effort. But I am not done yet, notwithstanding their heckling and mutterings over there! Look at our Report card as to how well we are faring in these areas when compared to other countries which were surveyed.
Brain drain: rank 117 out of 117 countries
Pervasiveness of money laundering through banks: rank 117 out of 117 countries
Reliability of police services: rank 116 out of 117 countries
Centralization of economic policymaking: rank 115 out of 117 countries
Growth Competitiveness Index: rank 115 out of 117 countries
Irregular payments in public contracts: rank 114 out of 117 countries
Macroeconomic Environment Index: rank 113 out of 117 countries
So if it is not last space we running, it is second, third or fourth to last! That is why Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Guyana so low, somewhere at 121 out of 159 countries.
These statistics, vital in any honest attempt to put our economy on an even keel, are omitted from the substantive Budget or the additional documentations presented to us in this Parliament.
To the extent then that we want to build on false assumptions and information, which have no bearing on the reality of our existing economy, we will further fall deeper into crisis.
Honesty in assessing our state of affairs is paramount! The Government must not fabricate a reality to make it look good. That will only fool the people, just like what happened with VAT when we were all told that cost of living will go down after it comes into effect. What has happened since? Contrary to all Government's predictions, there has been an upward movement in the cost of living.
But even if one does not believe the World Bank's survey and its findings I just adumbrated, the best evidence of determining that we have not been making forward movement is that tangible, physical evidence of a standard of living for the large masses of Guyanese which remains unchanged and which is deteriorating.
The big boast of growth at 4.7% last year, which came from World Cup Cricket Stadium expenditures and the ongoing construction of the Skeldon factory, does not mean that the poor masses are better off than before.
Donald Ramotar and Robert Persaud do not seem to believe this. Hear how they say I am cockeyed, Madam Speaker. But can they deny that there are more beggars on the roads, more criminals on the ambush, more white-collar crimes in both private and public places, and yes, Madam Speaker, the propagation by their Cabinet of a casino-gambling culture to generate revenues? Could they tell me why so many want to leave these shores, and want to qualify as refugees to Canada ? Why backtracking is so rampant?
It could not be the PNC dictatorship they are getting away from. No! It is the disgusting and frustrating bad governance and corruption of the PPP/C Government, especially so since the death of Dr. Jagan.
Bad governance and corruption are the scourge of Guyana ; the diseases which are stultifying growth and development, and the resulting happiness, of all Guyanese.
I want to cite certain examples and instances of this bad governance and corruption. And I will be doing so from some letters which came into my possession recently.
The most recent one is from a consultant named Peter Ming, who has a lot to say about contract-splitting within the Procurement Section of the Ministry of Finance. This piece of skulduggery forced him to resign.
I will read the whole of it for this Chamber's cogitation. The other has to do with letters I have from former Auditor General, the incorruptible Mr. Anand Goolsarran, as to the treatment meted out to him when reviewing investigations into the Dolphin scam.
And time permitting, I will cover scandals at the Customs Department which resulted in Commissioner Mr. Lambert Marks at a press conference some time ago attesting to ‘corruption in high places'.