PERUSAL of the “I paid a bribe website” by a reporter from the Guyana Chronicle, has revealed a total of 111 reports of bribery to the value of $10,884,924 has so far been recorded. Speaking about the website Monday after the relevance of this system was questioned, Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee disclosed that the system which was set up by the ministry allowed persons to post/report what they encountered in terms of bribery.
Minister Rohee added that persons through the website could have their complaints forwarded to various departments and agencies such as the traffic department, Guyana Police Force, Guyana Revenue Authority and so forth.
“We have a person monitoring the website on a daily basis, so as to keep up to date with the posts,” he said.
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS
Additionally, the minister stated that as soon as the information is acquired by the website, it is forwarded to the head of the relevant agency which the issue pertains to, so that the accusation can be investigated and dealt with appropriately.
Furthermore, Minister Rohee said: “We do not necessarily follow up the issue after it has been forwarded, because it is not the initial role of the ministry to be policing the matter after it was forwarded to the ministry, unless it is a major issue involving one of the departments which come under it.”
For example, a matter which involves the police force is forwarded to the police commissioner so that further action could be taken.
Minister Rohee further disclosed that the effectiveness of the website is limited, in the sense that the further investigation into a reported matter is left to the various government agencies to deal with.
ELECTRONIC CRIME REPORTING
The minister referred to the fact that recently there has been an increase in the number of advertisements for electronic crime reporting, which shows that the advancement of technology in Guyana can be seen.
MOST RECENT INCIDENT
During observation of the website, the Guyana Chronicle discovered that the last reported and resolved incident involved a traffic rank who was recently promoted, taking a bribe of $4000 from a civilian. The matter was reported to the Ruimveldt Police Station, which later led to an investigation, after which the rank was found guilty of the offence and was charged.