THE political opposition and some media houses have been waging a crusade

against the government accusing it of corruption and irregularities in awarding contracts, albeit without any real evidence. These accusations have been based on speculation and mere hearsay in most instances.
The objective of this crusade is obviously to taint the image of the government and score cheap political points.
One of the outstanding qualities of the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan was that when he made an accusation, it was always backed by solid facts and figures that were meticulously compiled. So whenever he made a submission it was almost impossible to refute him. He never believed in hearsay and speculation and this earned him the highest respect and admiration, even from his political adversaries.
Today, unfortunately, we have politicians who argue “in a street corner” style whereby those with the loudest voices win arguments rather than those who present facts and figures in a logical sequence.
Undoubtedly, the scourge of corruption, which can be found in all societies, must be fought relentlessly but it cannot be countered without factual evidence. It is as plain and simple as that.
No one would deny that there must be transparency in financial transactions of governments, and not only because it enables taxpayers to easily research and hold their governments/ elected officials accountable for how they spend their monies at all levels of government.
It is apposite to recall the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who wrote in his 1932 article called, ‘What Publicity Can Do’ that, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”
Transparency in government is not a new issue. John Adams, second President of the United States, wrote, “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right and a desire to know.”
In other words, a healthy system of government is an open government that allows all who desire to know to find the information they are seeking.
One of the first things President Donald Ramotar did on assuming office was to open the books on projects about which the opposition was making a big hue and cry about corruption and lack of transparency. In fact, the President made it abundantly clear that the government has nothing to hide and he is willing at all times to open the books for the opposition to peruse.
What is ironic is that when books were opened to the opposition they could not find any irregularities but they did not inform the Guyanese people that they did not find anything wrong. They became extremely quiet, quite the opposite of the gusto with which they had peddled their corruption allegations.
More recently, the government in a fine gesture compiled a document detailing all privatisation transactions from 1993 to November 2012 and has made it open to the public.
“The report documents, in detail, the results of all of the privatisation transactions that we have executed as a government during what is described as Phase II of the privatisation programme…,” Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh stated at a news conference on Tuesday.
He explained that within the report are detailed listings of every transaction and various analyses tables, presenting not only a description of the transaction but also values and methodology used.
According to him, the privatisation report represents the latest installment in the manifestation of the government’s consistent commitment to placing information on its operations in the public domain.
“There is no cloud over any of the evaluations of any privatisation transaction…and government is willing to address any questions on any specific valuations,” Dr. Singh said.
The ball is now in the opposition’s court to provide any instance of corruption or irregularities and if they cannot come up with any evidence of their spurious allegations, they should simply shut up and work with the government to help move our country forward in an accelerated manner and prove that they are genuinely committed to national development.