IT is not unfair to say there exists strong misperceptions about what constitutes corruption and appropriation of state assets for personal use. Whereas attention is being directed at the acquisition of “Pradoville” properties, whereby government officials– elected and appointed– have used their positions of power and influence to possess state assets outside of legal requirements and below market value, the problem is much wider.

Theft, embezzlement and misappropriation of state assets take many forms. Some include denial of revenue to the state through non-payment or underpayment of taxes; white collar crimes; and evading the regulatory and oversight functions of the state as prescribed by law. The idiom that there is no excuse for ignorance under the law, though not disputed, would be more meaningful should persons be aware of what the laws require of them. Here there may be utility in establishing an information reservoir–easily accessible–and understood by the public. It may be useful to advance some form of public education that includes delivery of literature, public service announcements and online access.

Laws such as the Integrity Act are vital to holding public officials accountable. The principle of upholding ethical standards while in service to the people should not be trifled with. Chairman of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) Professor Clive Thomas has publicly made known this unit’s limitations of pursuing justice in the absence of enforcing laws. In his writings within recent years on the health of the economy, he has referred to Guyana as a “criminalised state. ”Speaking to the issue in Kaieteur News (8th January) Thomas said by 2006 capital flight had doubled to US$173million and doubled yet again to US$575million by 2010. This is a staggering amount of money– in four years– that has fled Guyana and by extension, its development.

More and more each day there is certainty of Guyana’s ‘El Dorado’ potential, in oil and gold. The value of these resources in the global market and to a country’s economy carry with them long tales of skimming off the people’s wealth to the benefit of a few. These resources have also created wars to either access them or maintain them, and see the inequitable distribution of wealth among the people.

It is not unusual in societies such as in Africa and the Middle East where these resources exist, to see the vast wealth and opulent lifestyles of those in the corridors of power, or close proximity to, as the masses live in squalor, deprived of basic necessities. Leaders in maintaining the inequity are often brutish and known to deny citizens their rights and freedoms.

The executives of multinational and transnational corporations that invest in the identified resources of these countries, are not shy in engaging in enticing or collaborating with indigenous government officials in unethical practices, in furtherance of their business interests. Robbing the people of what’s theirs is to also rob them of their growth and development. Where the people’s assets are not used for their benefit they are denied quality education, healthcare, public transportation, road infrastructure, livable wages/salaries, health and longevity, to name some.

All of the above and more are vital in addressing– through recognition and putting systems in place– to not only stamp out the theft of state assets, but to also hold those responsible for such misconduct to account. It ought not to be forgotten that those who sought to compromise the state’s integrity were doing so out of selfishness and refusal to comply with their civic duty under the law. As it is in other countries, where these persons would not have been allowed to disregard the law and as citizens our support would be with that government for enforcing the law, likewise it helps taking a similar approach to ensure law, order, growth and development in Guyana.

Recovering the state’s assets is an herculean task, equivalent to dis-entangling a knotted rope, strand by strand. But if this is what is required to return to the people what rightfully belongs to them, it must be pursued. The longest journey begins with the first step and where steps are being made as in the instance of SARA and SOCU, legislation realisation and enforcement will make the journey fruitful.