MINISTER of Legal Affairs Basil Williams on Friday met with delegations from the World Bank and the United Nations (UN) to discuss the operations and functions of the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU) at a meeting at the Attorney General’s Office in Georgetown.The meeting, according to Mr Williams, addressed the draft bill on the establishment of SARU, its structured functions and its role in coordinating with other organisations. There was also consideration of the whole quest to recover government assets that were misappropriated or unlawfully obtained or obtained by unlawful conduct on the part of public officers.
The Attorney General said a draft copy of the bill has already been submitted to him, and his ministry will soon publish a copy on his ministry’s website at http://legalaffairs.gov.gy/, allowing members of the public and other stakeholders to view and to have an input.
“We are publishing bills that we propose for passage to the House, so that persons and stakeholders could read the bills upfront, make their comments and proposals, send them in to us, so that when we actually meet at the consultations we would then just clarify certain issues that we would have raised. So we will have to publish this bill on our website that people could see it, so that we would have our stakeholders’ consultations,” Mr Williams told the press in a briefing in his ministry’s boardroom just after the meeting.
RESTRAINING ORDERS
He explained that the work of the agency is intended to be civil and not criminal and if the bill is passed, SARU will have the capacity to request information about assets being held by certain bodies, and will be given the power to apply to the court for restraining orders and interim orders in relation to property.
The agency’s intended work is based on the international convention against corruption to which Guyana is a signatory, Mr Williams said, and though government has not yet received an estimated financial value of missing state assets, a forensic audit continues into the missing state assets.
The legislation will strengthen their investigative capacity, statutorily empowering them to do certain things from which they are incapacitated in carrying out their functions, other than just requesting information.
“The legislation will empower them to be able to request information lawfully and get it. Whoever they’re requesting it from would be lawfully required to hand the information to them, which is a big step in their process,” he explained.
The process to take this legislation to Parliament requires much consultation with stakeholders, and facilitators and technical people will be invited to participate, and consultations with members of parliamentary parties are also encouraged so that all will understand and indicate early whether they support the bill.
HONOURING MANIFESTO PLEDGE
While President David Granger has spoken many times against bribery within the public service and the “scourge of corruption,” Mr Williams said the efforts of the supporting international organisations coincide with the APNU+AFC government’s honouring its pre-elections manifesto pledge to establish an investigative commission on corruption.
The Attorney General said when the visiting delegations depart, the Guyana Government will meet with SARU. The special State Assets Recovery Unit is meant to go after assets initially belonging to the State and “people of Guyana”, that might have found their way into the hands of private interests illegally, either through siphoning, collusion or some form of corruption.
Special forensic audits are still being conducted into a number of State institutions, among them the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), which controls a myriad of State corporations such as the National Communications Network (NCN), the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL), and Atlantic Hotels Inc/Guyana Marriott Hotel, among others.
The Privatisation Unit (PU) which is responsible for the disposal of State assets also comes under NICIL.
NICIL was chaired by former Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, and had as its Executive Director Winston Brassington, with board members including Dr Roger Luncheon, Nigel Dharamlall and Sonya Roopnauth.
Prosecutions have been started against individuals accused of the misuse and illegal possession of State assets. One high- profile case is that of former PPP/C Public Service Minister Dr Jennifer Westford and Chief Personnel Officer Margaret Cummings, who were in July last year arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer larceny charges.
The former minister answered to four counts of attempt to commit a felony, one of which said that between July 17, 2014 and June 23, 2015 at the Public Service Ministry, Waterloo Street, Georgetown, being an employee of the Government of Guyana, she attempted to commit larceny when she sought to have transferred motor vehicles PJJ 8113 and PKK 2175 to the name of Wayne Walker, being the property of the Government of Guyana.

By Shauna Jemmott