NICIL’s affairs for Public Probe in National Assembly
…three week deadline proposed for all requested reports
Setting the first day of June as the deadline, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU’s) point man
Former Finance Minister Carl Greenidge
on Finances, Carl Greenidge, has moved to the National Assembly to force the Finance Minister to bring to the forefront the affairs of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited.
Greenidge in his motion also seeks to have the responsible Minister make financial provision for the urgent commissioning of an independent financial audit of the operations of the National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Privatisation Unit.
He has also tabled for debate in the House next week, a motion which calls on the administration to, among other things, “lay in the National Assembly for review and where applicable, for ratification, all international agreements, (including mining agreements involving the award of state lands and fiscal concessions), signed by the Government since January 1, 2000.”
Greenidge is also looking to have the National Assembly request the responsible Ministers of Government to: Provide the National Assembly with a report, in keeping with the law, on the disposal by sale or otherwise of all state lands, including the terms on which they were disposed of and the criteria used between the date of announcement (Sunday, 9th October, 2011) of the National and Regional Elections and December 31, 2011 and between January 1, 2000 and October 9, 2011.
The long awaited motion by the former Finance Minister also calls on the House to obligate the relevant Ministers of Government to provide the National Assembly as early as possible with a detailed report on the disposal by sale or otherwise of all state assets entrusted to NICIL and the Privatisation Unit, the terms on which they were disposed of and the criteria used; the outstanding bi-annual reports and annual audited accounts required of NICIL and the Privatisation Unit under the relevant legislation; the handing over report from the former Executive Director of NICIL (and Head of the Privatisation Unit), Winston Brassington, if applicable at this time and a report on the disposal by sale or otherwise of all other state assets, including the terms on which they were disposed of and the criteria used.
He is seeking, also, to cause the House to ensure that a report on all the fiscal concessions, including duty free concessions, granted in response to specific requests or as part of contracts awarded by the Tender Board and the criteria on which these awards were based be placed before the National Assembly for review.
Greenidge, in prefacing his resolutions to the House, points to recent reports on Guyana about transparency and corruption by the international community.
These reports, he says, have been presented by the World Economic Forum, Transparency International and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) all of which have rated Guyana poorly.
Greenidge’s motion is also prefaced by the fact that “Guyanese are concerned about the widely reported acts of lawlessness in the guardianship of our national resources and assets as well as the lack of transparency and accountability associated with the disposal of those assets.”
