–GTUC rejects PPP calls for disbandment of unit
–says party’s motive for setting up SOCU suspect

THE Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) says that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) must get the requisite resources, skills and staff to function, even as it rejects calls by the opposition for its disbandment.

SOCU has brought numerous charges against opposition members, with its Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, facing some 19 fraud charges. In a statement issued on Monday, the GTUC said that in June 2014, then government spokesperson, Dr. Roger Luncheon, reportedly said that the purpose for the establishment of SOCU was to investigate money laundering and other financial crimes. According to GTUC, “other financial crimes” is a broad mandate, and can include investigating State/government officials on the acquisition of property in Pradoville II, which is seen as ill-gotten gains. “For the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to call for the Unit’s closure suggests the consideration given to its establishment was for another purpose and not what it had publicly said. Or, that its enforcement should apply to others and not them. SOCU has a place and function in a society crawling with corruption. We must ensure it gets the requisite resources, right skills-set and the right quantity of staff to function. “GTUC calls for capacity building so this agency can serve its purpose,” the umbrella trade union movement said in its statement.
According to SOCU, it is instructive when investigation is being conducted into the perceived infractions of politicians, they are quick to cry witch hunt; yet when similar actions are carried out on the ordinary citizens, said politicians will call for the system to work. “The double standards tell that they expect the laws they participate in making, to apply for others; not them.”

CAN’T FAIL
The GTUC said society cannot allow SOCU to fail, noting that mismanagement only benefits those who are corrupting the system. “The question here is not about transferring or dismissing workers; it is about using the information that came out of the audit to help in strengthening the organisation so it can better perform in the future. Too often recommendations about transferring, demoting and dismissal are not founded and guided by any universally acceptable principle but knee-jerk reaction to say corrective action was taken and case closed. We have to move away from such thinking and action.”
The union said that fighting corruption has to be done on several levels, and that one must look at the entire system. “At the end of the day, it is taxpayers’ money not being properly spent, and could have gone into other areas of need. From information gleaned, SOCU’s activities are, in many ways, flawed: Inadequate manpower, inadequate skills-set, poor accounting system and filing for retrieval and accountability. You cannot put a man to do something that he knows nothing about, and expect him to function. It is about suitability for the job.”

On the back of revelations of alleged fraud, falsification of records, misuse and pilfering of monies, the PPP last week called for SOCU to be disbanded. In a statement, the party said that from the inception, it had been publicly complaining that SOCU has derogated from its original mandate of combatting organised crimes and money laundering, and has been reduced to a “rogue unit carrying out political directions to witch hunt PPP leaders and shake down the business community under the pretext of crime fighting.”

The party said too, that over the years, they have allegedly received multiple reports from businessmen that SOCU officers have extracted from them huge sums of monies as bribes, and seized large caches of jewellery, monies and other personal valuables, including quantities of foreign currencies, from their premises, without due process. Most, if not all, of the present officers at SOCU were recruited under the PPP administration.

INTEGRITY COMMISSION
Meanwhile, the GTUC commented on the state of the Integrity Act and the need for it to be properly financed and staffed. It alluded to calls from Chairman of the Commission, Kumar Doraisami imploring the government to rectify the situation, and officials to comply with the Act, and noted that in December 2018, the government made a commitment to the Commission that by January 2019, it will have its full complement of staff. “It must now move with alacrity to honour same. It is a sad day for this nation that the Commission does not have the staff, including the investigative officers, needed to do a proper a job. These can be considered acts at undermining its effectiveness. You cannot put things in place and they don’t have the teeth needed to function; it would be just a façade and made ineffective. Government must look at the need to transition people out of some areas, recruit and train others to perform, creating jobs. The same goes for aiding the capacity building in SOCU,” GTUC asserted.

The union recalled that the Coalition rode into office not only on its intolerance for corruption, but amidst society’s concern. “Society does not expect corruption to be removed overnight, but expects the beginning of corrective measures to bring the society to a state of accountability. To do otherwise will cause disillusionment in the political process, deterring citizens from participating, thereby undermining an important element in democracy,” GTUC stressed. It added that allegations of Conflict of Interest should be checked, and where it exists reined in forthwith. “All efforts must be channelled to ensuring we are not creating a society where the comparative analyses draw more similarity than distinction, which begs the question: Is it a case of six of one and half-a-dozen of the other? We need a society where rules, laws and conventions hold sway and subject all,” the GTUC release concluded.

In its latest report, Guyana has been listed by Transparency International as one of 20 countries that have significantly improved its rating in the fight against corruption in the past seven years, a feat which has been hailed as progressive, since, under the previous administration, it was in the category as a corrupt country. “In the last seven years, only 20 countries significantly improved their CPI scores, including Estonia, Senegal, Guyana and Côte D’Ivoire,” the 2018 Corruption Perception Index report stated. Guyana now stands with a score of 37, and is ranked at 93 out of the 180 countries. Last year, Guyana scored 38 points, and was ranked at 91, while in 2017, it scored 34. In 2015, when the coalition Government took office, Guyana was ranked at 119, with a score of 29, while in 2014, 2013 and 2012, it scored 30, 27 and 28 respectively, which placed it in the category of corrupt countries.