–to right the wrongs in the past, Ramjattan says

THE Alliance For Change (AFC), a major stakeholder in the coalition APNU+AFC government, believes the partnership is “strong and cohesive”, even with what has been described as “missteps” committed over the past year.AFC Leader, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, told reporters at that party’s press conference last Friday that, despite its challenges, the Government is united.

“Yes, challenges are indeed within Government,” he said. “Notwithstanding that, however, the coalition remains strong and cohesive. We have our Cabinet meetings, and work to achieve at these Cabinet meetings a lot to enhance the lives here in Guyana, with the APNU Cabinet colleagues.”

Ramjattan noted that the coalition has been learning a lot about governance and governing since it took office in May 2015. He pointed to the country’s politics and scrutiny as other vehicles to enhance the work of the administration.

“We are pleased, though, that in relation to the collaborative manner in which we are working in this coalition Government, how it is operating. Indeed, it is doing — quite frankly, in all the context of challenges and constraints — it is doing wonderful,” he declared.

The AFC leader also said the coalition has learned lessons in relation to several incidents, and has been confronting its missteps. He said the lessons learnt are working to enhance the coalition’s performance.

Asked whether the AFC is pleased with what it has thus far received from the coalition, Ramjattan said: “Absolutely! This Government is a united, cohesive Government. Even if it was a one-party Government, within that one-party Government you’d have people arguing the cases for certain things within the Cabinet, National Assembly; and so you’d have differences. And knowing very well that the coalition arrangement can ensure that you have even more differences and more disagreements, we feel that we are doing a real fantastic job of it thus far.”

The coalition, he said, is working to enhance the public’s interest. He noted that it is dealing “very, very well” with issues that are arising.
Ramjattan noted, too, that the consistent scrutiny of the coalition is evidence of democracy at work here.

“It is a good thing that, all across the country, wheresoever it is: regional, local authority, national level, those who want a better day are doing their research and finding out about those issues that can enhance a better Government and a better governance through their scrutiny of us – the Coalition Government,” he declared.

WILL LISTEN
Notwithstanding the level of scrutiny, the AFC head said, the coalition has demonstrated that it will listen to the voice of the people on all issues.
He posited that neither the AFC nor the coalition has violated any promise it made to the country, and said: “We are doing as best as possible to find out what were the wrongs”.

He said former Auditor General Anand Goolsaran has helped to point out critical issues with his critiques of the Government. “What Mr. Goolsaran must appreciate is that, with a lot of challenges and heavy bureaucracy, it (correcting wrongs) is not going to happen overnight.”

Ramjattan said the righting of wrongs done in the past need “a Herculean effort”, and stressed that mistakes will be made, as humans are the ones running the country.

HUMAN BEINGS
“We are human beings, we are going to make errors, we are not angels, and we are going to make mistakes… What is good about it is how we remedy these errors,” Ramjattan contended.

Minister of Public Telecommunications, AFC member Cathy Hughes, said being in Government has proven to be an “exciting time”, but it is not easy and is not without its challenges. She said that, while in Opposition, “we certainly thought we knew what went on in Government; but, coming from the private sector, I’d like to share that my experience is that Government bureaucracy -– that (which) has been created over the 50 years of our Independence — is a huge and heavy bureaucracy, and in many parts it does not work, and in many areas it takes too long.”

Hughes called for a deeper analysis of why some systems are failing. “We really need to analyse why so many things don’t work structurally; and it has been my experience that if you attempt to do one thing, there are at least ten things you have to do before.”

Minister Hughes believes it was “absolutely necessary” for the APNU-AFC Government to have forensic audits done after it had entered office. She said that knowing what was before them was critical to the way forward.

“If the system has failings, the only way is to thoroughly examine those and come up with new approaches and new ways of doing (things). I want to reassure the public that the audits have been done, (but) we cannot (tell) you on a daily basis the progress we are making behind the scenes.”

The former Minister of Tourism said it is important for the public to understand that, for a legal case to be made based on the findings of the audits, it has to go through a specific series of steps, which include the collection of information, processing of the information, and ensuring that the case can stand up to the scrutiny of the court system.

“It is not that nothing is happening, but we certainly do not want to go into a courtroom and have cases thrown out for want of proper evidence and the want of proper analysis,” she explained.