President says “We are not sitting on our hands”

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar has reiterated his Administration’s commitment to tackling corruption wherever it is spotlighted.
“We are not sitting on our hands,” he stressed last Saturday at a press conference at State House, responding to questions over the availability of technical assistance by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to tackle corruption.
The President stated that Guyana is open to the offer of support made by CDB Head Warren Smith at the recently concluded 44th annual meeting of the Board of Governors.
Smith said: “We certainly recognise and insist that good governance is part and parcel of the development of a country. We want to see and ensure that the persons we elect exercise good judgment and also good governance. I think that there is sufficient evidence out there that when these principles are not observed it hampers the growth and development of a country.
“…there is no country in this world, and I dare say, that has not had issues with corruption. It is important that countries continuously adopt measures that will reduce the incidents of corruption in their domain… certainly if they (borrowing member countries) request that kind of assistance, the CDB would be more than happy to help.”
According to President Ramotar, the successive People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administrations have addressed the implementation of “elaborate systems” to address corruption.
However, he acknowledged that there continues to be challenges going forward and emphasised that these are engaging the attention of officials.
“Where there is corruption we will deal with it,” he said.

SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTED
The President referenced the open public procurement process, as well as the current scope of the Auditor General’s office, as some of the systems implemented by the ruling party, systems and processes that were absent pre-1992, when the party took office. Also, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly scrutinises the Auditor General’s report and identifies area for additional investigation to move towards prosecution.
Noteworthy too is the fact that Guyana is signatory to two significant anti-corruption conventions: the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption; and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), ratified in 2000 and 2008 respectively. Guyana is also one of 31 countries that signed on to and ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption in 2001.

(By Vanessa Narine)