TRANSPARENCY Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) is saying that Junior Natural Resources Minister Simona Broomes should be shuffled again, but President David Granger has affirmed that he sees no need for the minister to be removed from her portfolio.On a recent edition of The Public Interest, President Granger revealed he is prepared to remove Minister Broomes if a conflict of interest situation arises; but, he said, until such time, she will remain the Junior Natural Resources Minister.

“The functions she performed at the Ministry do not necessarily come into conflict with the fact that her children own that property. Minister of Natural Resources [Raphael Trotman] is an experienced attorney, and I’ve asked him for his views, and I will be guided by his advice; but at present I do not see any need to remove her,” the President declared.

Minister Broomes came in for heavy criticism after she transferred a dredge she had owned into the ownership of her children. She has continued to maintain that she did nothing wrong, and that no conflict of interest has arisen from her action.

In a Friday evening statement, TIGI President Troy Peters said that any individual who is in a conflict of interest position should not be judged by an evaluation of that individual’s character nor by an assertion of any intent to engage in wrongdoing on his/her part. He said it is more a concern about whether it is possible for Broomes to use her position to extend special privileges to individuals or entities with whom she is related, or for personal benefit.

“It is about whether impartiality is guaranteed for all by the system or structure or set of arrangements in place.

“Furthermore, it is a concern that the very conditions prescribed for an absence of a conflict of interest should be applicable to all individuals who have held, and who will hold, such an office in the future.

“Essentially, the same conditions must be consistently applied, and should not depend on the individual under consideration,” Peters said.

He said that in spite of recent actions, a clear conflict of “related party” interest would exist whenever matters affecting the mining operations of the children of Minister Broomes are either handled or contributed to by Minister Broomes.

“One should also be wary that junior officers might feel obliged to act in a manner that gives favourable treatment to people associated with, or related to, the minister, even (or especially!) in matters for which the minister would have declared conflict of interest,” he cautioned.

In this regard, he noted, the popular recommendation at present is that Minister Broomes be moved to another ministry.

“This recommendation is rooted in the experience of the recent past, combined with (the) current low level of accountability to the people,” he said.

The alternative to her being moved include Minister Broomes declaring conflict of interest and recusing herself from all relevant matters.