APART from the distinguished and erudite, internationally renowned Professor, Dr. Clive Thomas, there is no other Guyanese that can explain Guyana’s economy and its dynamics, better than Mr. Winston Jordan, the Minister of Finance in the current the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC).

His academic record speaks for itself; for he has had his professional training at very reputable western institutions. I stand to be corrected, when I say that he has spent significant years in budget preparations, especially during the Jagdeo years. In fact, he had been responsible for the preparation of virtually all the yearly estimates, during his years at the Ministry of Finance. Undoubtedly, he would have occupied a critical vantage point in observing the national economy, especially with regards the composition of the money flow.

This qualifies him to make any statement with regard any aspect of the national economy, such as his recent one that the pre-May 2015 economy was based on the proceeds of the drug trade, but that since post-May 2015 that has ceased. This has solicited a response from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Deodat Indar, asking for “empirical evidence”.

One agrees that it is the right of Indar to challenge any such statement. After all, as one of the PSC’s leading representatives, there must be concern, and perhaps anxiety on his part as to what such a statement means for the propriety of his general membership. There are other implications which are sure to have influenced his response to the minister.

The extent of this country’s descent into the abyss of becoming a criminal state, a fact which Professor Thomas had clearly illustrated in a series of articles in his Sunday Stabroek column in the early millennium years, could not have been challenged because of the pin point accurate facts and analysis that supported his contention. It cannot be, because there is no doubt as to the huge volumes of drug money that circulated in the local economy, and the other acts of state criminality that had been taking place, and which gave rise to such a brand.

Of course, its natural ally of money laundering flaunted its dirty presence in ways which not only Indar, but all clear minded Guyanese surely would remember. In fact, its criminal proceeds are an ever present reminder as to what this country represented and became, during the rapacious years of PPP/C governance.

Surely, Indar cannot claim to have been absent from these shores, or even if he had been, not to have followed closely the very frequent reports on the large drug seizures, evidently from syndicates; and those quantum also intercepted from the smaller shippers, although secreted via some ingenious methods. There is no jurisdiction in which such large drug interceptions would have taken place, and which would have been a deemed transshipment point that its proceeds would not have been pivotal to the particular economy. Surely, if this PSC spokesperson is denying the presence and operation of the drug trade, as he probably is, and its role in Guyana’s economy, then Guyana did not exist prior to May – 2015.

Regards,
Dillon Goring