Dear Editor
REFERENCE is made to a letter by Lance Cumberbatch, Guyana Chronicle of May 07, 2018. I support his statements on the issues raised and if I have read him correctly, he has opined on what I have been contending has been the new interpretation of morality that had become the norm during the disastrous period of PPP/C government.

Again, I argue, that those over two decades’ governance by the PPP/C government had witnessed the total desecration of the Rule of Law, when impunity became the order of the day — the new signpost that signalled its acceptance for daily living. It was an altogether acceptance of a new understanding of governance. In fact, its deep fixture within societal behavioural norms has led to the destruction of the latter, giving birth to a distorted understanding of societal values. But it is really a mirage, self-induced within, which its newly created, immoral products used to justify corrupt acts as acceptable within the context of law and order.

Thus, it is no surprise that Mr. Cumberbatch has mentioned in his letter, can argue with such unashamed boldness that “America was built on corruption’’, and that corruption not governance, is the backbone of economic development.” It is his dishonest, self-erected reason for breaking the laws.

Of course there is corruption in even the best of countries. However, there is a marked observation, and a primary fact, that once information becomes known, investigations are immediately commenced. Further, once sufficient, credible evidence is gathered, charges are laid, and court proceedings begin. Once found guilty, condign judicial sanction becomes inevitable. This is the standard in developed states. They do not sand dance or pussy foot with corruption once it surfaces. The perpetrators are pursued and brought down, and America is a prime example of where anyone who breaks the law is judicially pursued.

The very America where the immorally deluded personality contends that corruption is its moral standard has been known to convict senators, congressmen, governors, and federal officials on corruption matters. Irrespective of the citizen, of whatever office, the authorities will prosecute for the appropriate penalty. The system does not take prisoners, nor offer protection based on party or government connections. The case of Enron is a primary example of officials not too big to go to jail.

That constituents can still want to support such an institutionally corrupt figure as Bharrat Jagdeo, underlines the new acceptable standard of governance, which for such persons means that one, especially PPP/C supporters, can commit any crime of corrupt practice, and not be expected to face the courts. This has become a standard of general life in Guyana, and one that threatens to subvert the moral life of the general citizenry.

The numerous cases of criminal theft of state resources underline the new thinking in societal morals. The judicial system, in the period ahead, will have to make examples of such citizens, once found guilty for crimes against the state. Condign examples will have to be made for dishonest citizens to understand that this country is still governed by laws.
Regards
Troy Garraway