Dear Editor,

THE forensic audits undertaken when the Granger Administration took office revealed that the former PPP administration engaged in the greatest assault on Guyana’s patrimony and treasury. Former Speaker of the National Assembly and former PPP member, Ralph Ramkarran, SC, made some unexpected utterances on his blog after leaving the party.

‘The Conversation Tree’ (June 23, 2013). ‘The respected former Speaker who came from the bosom of the PPP “beast,” declared that Guyana’s new name would soon change to the “Kleptocratic Republic of Guyana,” as he alleged that the former administration and local businessmen were “taking advantage of their positions and political connections to enrich themselves.” Not the poor and down-trodden in all parts of Guyana. No! Their focus was on themselves.
In 2013, The then Joint Opposition Parties called for the government to establish a Public Procurement Commission and to publish the names of all contractors and businessmen who were the beneficiaries of government contracts for sums in excess of G$1B.

For obvious reasons such as those given by Ramakarran, the PPP refused to set up a Public Procurement Commission which would ensure that contracts were awarded in a fair and equitable manner. Note that same was only established under the David Granger-led coalition administration, to ensure that every Guyanese is given an opportunity to succeed and benefit from his/her country’s patrimony.
It is known that the officials of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) have done much work in carrying out its mandate and many will be charged and will be found guilty when their day comes.

Additionally, they have recently started to investigate the award of oil blocks given to JHI, Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas, and Ratio Energy in March 2015 ( Kaieteur and Canje Oil Blocks). International Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr Jan Mangal recently said, “The issue before us is an obvious one. Everyone in the industry knows Guyana has been defrauded with the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks” (Kaieteur News Jun 07, 2019). He further stated, “Whenever you see illegitimate companies and individuals being awarded blocks around the world, you know something is wrong.” Dr Mangal believes that the probe would set the tone for Guyana’s oil industry, and would send a message to the international community that Guyana is transitioning to a “rules-based country” where corruption will not be tolerated; where corruption will be vehemently challenged with the rule of law and our independent judiciary.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has recently expressed the view that “such an investigation would have the potential to harm the investment climate in Guyana”. Wow! Could you believe the nerve of these very funny people? (The Guyana Times newspaper, June 13, 2019). Dr Jan Mangal, the international oil and gas expert expressed a contrary view, that I dear say is most profound, ”Those who benefit from this type of fraud will say Guyana should not rescind the blocks and that Guyana will scare away investors and there are many of these beneficiaries of fraud, outside and inside of Guyana.”

(Kaieteur News Jun 07, 2019). These two conflicting statements are self-explanatory and it begs the question, what do the boys down at the GCCI have to hide? What are they scared of that will be revealed? Are they in the category of the businessmen whom Ralph Ramkarran knows and whom he so eloquently wrote about?

The United Nations became very concerned about the level of theft of state assets in developing countries and hence created a treaty known as “The United Nations Convention Against Corruption” (UNCAC), ratified in 2003 and signed by 140 UN territories. Guyana became a signatory in 2008. UNCAC is a robust Convention of standards, rules and measures aimed at eradicating corruption. It is the UN’s Global Response to the issue of Corruption and places heavy emphasis on asset recovery.

The convention primarily focuses on the following areas: preventive measures, criminaliSation, law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, technical assistance, ensure the existence of a body or bodies to prevent corruption, create a public procurement system, enhance transparency in public administration, prevent corruption among members of the judiciary,take measures to enhance the accounting and auditing standards in the private sector, make sure penalties for corrupt acts reflect the gravity of the offence, promote the participation of civil society in the fight against corruption, implement a comprehensive regulatory scheme to prevent money laundering and establish procedures to freeze, seize and confiscate the proceeds of corrupt acts. I repeat, to freeze, seize and confiscate the proceeds of corrupt acts.

Taking the aforementioned into consideration, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) was birthed from the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Even though Guyana signed the treaty with the United Nation in 2008 and was obligated to put measures in place to aggressively fight corruption and to recover state assets that were illegally taken from the state, former Presidents Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar refused to abide by the tenets of the treaty.

In Guyana, the treaty was not honoured, but it was honoured by all other countries who were signatories. Again in 2015, as soon as the coalition administration came to office, the United Nations treaty was honoured by establishing what was known as SARU (State Asset Recovery Unit now SARA) and passed several other pieces of sweeping legislation in an effort to fight corruption.

I have concluded that wicked men who have grown accustomed to plundering the wealth of this nation are trying to stymie the government’s efforts to fulfil the tenets of the UNCAC treaty by fighting anti-corruption efforts. The reason why the boys at the GCCI are trying to lobby for SARA not to investigate the “giving away” of the Kaieteur and Canje oil blocks which are worth hundreds of millions of United States dollars is a no-brainer.

The make-up of the GCCI has some well clothed and at times well-spoken members whose interests should be questioned. Some of them are nothing but a bunch of ?

Guyana under the David Granger-led coalition government is better equipped to continue serving this nation for the benefit of all Guyanese. We must never allow ourselves to forget that most evil, wicked and corrupt PPP administration.
Regards,
Jermaine Figueira
Member of Parliament
Region 10