WITH heightened calls for the government to expose the corruption which allegedly had been fostered by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration while they were in office for over 23 years, President David Granger on Friday said his government is still in the process of building evidence.The President’s disclosure was made on Friday last during this weekly television show “In the Public Interest,” which was aired on the National Communications Network (NCN).

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

While in opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) were very vocal on corruption, accusing the then PPP administration of nurturing and practising it.

Corruption is a serious problem. Just last year, Guyana’s ranking moved slightly in a positive direction though the country was still listed in the very corrupt category in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

The 2014 results revealed that Guyana remains behind its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) counterparts, ranking 124th out of 175 countries. The only CARICOM nation that ranks below Guyana was Haiti, which placed at 161.

And while the APNU+AFC coalition campaigned heavily on this fact that Guyana had been listed as very corrupt, the coalition had committed to expose acts of corruption, which were to some glaring.
But according to the President on Friday, once a party is in Opposition, it does not have access to the files which makes it almost impossible for that party to expose any underhand transactions.
However, after securing victory at the May 11 General and Regional elections earlier this year, the coalition is now in a position to expose these acts of corruption. One of the first moves of the new Government was to embark on forensic audits into state agencies to find out whether acts of corruption had been perpetuated at those entities.
There has been public outcry for the government to reveal these acts of corruption, due to the fact that these revelations appear not to be forthcoming, but Granger said the process is an ongoing effort.

HARD EVIDENCE
He explained that once there is intent to approach the courts with allegations of corruption, the accusing party must first provide hard evidence to support its claims. And according to him, “And over the last six months we [government] have been conducting investigations and enquiries, and we’ve been working towards getting the type of evidence to demonstrate to the public and courts that crimes have actually been committed.”

While only one PPP member has been charged to date, the President noted that it is not an easy task, but rather a “painstaking effort,” which requires ongoing work.
“But, we are still working on accumulating evidence,” he said.

Former Minister of Public Service Dr Jennifer Westford

On September 23, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had revealed at a post-Cabinet press briefing that under the PPP, multimillion-dollar contracts were “deliberately under-bid… people were bidding low and knowing fully well that they were going to come later on for variations so that in a process like that, tenderers who could have done the work, were actually cheated out of the contracts because some persons deliberately bidded low and the contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder.This eventually took the contract sum beyond what was the engineer’s estimate.”

ONE CHARGED
Earlier in the year, after the APNU+AFC had secured office, former Public Service Minister under the PPP Jennifer Westford and her Personnel Officer (PO) Margaret Cummings appeared before the court to face larceny and forgery charges,respectively.

The charges were in connection with the alleged illegal transfer of eight vehicles to themselves and friends, which were the property of the government. The 42-year-old former minister was slapped with four counts of attempting to commit felony and granted $800,000 bail.
A State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) which was also established by the government had revealed that former President, Bharrat Jagdeo and several of his Cabinet ministers had benefitted significantly from the Pradoville- Two housing scheme back in 2010 and were likely to face criminal charges.

The Asset Recovery Unit’s report also noted that the PPP Cabinet made a decision authorising the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to privatise state lands, which were subsequently sold to known friends and associates of the party at grossly undervalued prices. They were sold substantially lower than the market value, which deprived the state of its full benefits.
Additionally, over $200M was reportedly spent to develop the prime seaside community without the involvement or knowledge of the legislative arm of government and other relevant authorities. The lands were then secretly sold to former ministers under the PPP and known friends and associates of the party.

The most recent episode of these discoveries was a land deal between former President Bharrat Jagdeo and mortgage fraud convict, New York-based Guyanese businessman Ed Ahmad. The controversial land deal for a prime piece of land situated at the intersection of Vlissengen Road and Thomas Street was reportedly completed in just seven days.

Ahmad had applied for the 3.41 acres of government land on May 22, 2008 and the application was approved on May 27, 2008 – a mere five days after. On May 29, the then government had served a notice to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), whose headquarters is next to the plot, indicating that they were going to survey the land on the same day. A cadastral survey was executed and the plan was registered the same day. The lease for the land, which stipulated a $500,000 annual payment, was then issued to Ahmad on May 30.
Meanwhile, last week, in observance of International Day against Corruption, the PPP had recommitted itself to fighting the scourge of corruption and graft, which it contended, seems to be rearing its ugly head in the country.

By Ravin Singh