Skip to main content

FM
Former Member

Jul 17, 2018 News 0 Comments


Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo is questioning the assertions made by the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) of $200B in state assets lost under the previous People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration.

SARA’s Chief Executive Officer, Aubrey Heath-Retemyer recently indicated that through procurement fraud, the state lost between $28B and $35B every year between 2010 and 2014.
“If so much money was stolen why is it you can’t charge someone up to now for $1M of the $35B that was stolen per year?” Jagdeo questioned recently.
As it relates to illicit capital flights, Heath-Retemyer outlined that some $90B was lost, while the underground economy accounted for about $100 billion. He outlined ‘that and the underground economy are now almost nonexistent’.
Jagdeo reasoned that the underground economy is larger than drugs and, for example, comprises taxi drivers and vendors who are not paying taxes.
The Opposition Leader indicated that the formal economy is tanking because of the policies of the Government and not because efforts to clean up the underground economy are working.
Heath-Retemyer has indicated that SARA is working on a number of activities to change the culture and behaviour of people as it relates to corruption. He added that the anti-corruption legislation will be strengthened, since corruption is corrosive and impairs good governance.
Heath-Retemyer said that to date, over two million acres of lands have been retrieved; there was also the seizure of some amount of gold,
He noted that some people complain that the government should “let the drugs flow” because they would get jobs.
“But, if drugs were allowed, and the underground community continued to flourish, you could have lost your sons and daughters to kidnapping and ransom. We were at the point where there would have been serious problems,” Heath-Retemyer reflected.
He noted that the international community also informed the agency that the country was losing 15,000 ounces of gold per week, so the efforts to reduce corruption are well worth it.

 

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Baseman posted:

This is worse than the Mueller investigation here!

Witch hunt!

Do you know if the gifts Jagdeo received during the time he was President, that they belong to the Republic of Guyana and not to him?

Mitwah
Mitwah posted:
Baseman posted:

This is worse than the Mueller investigation here!

Witch hunt!

Do you know if the gifts Jagdeo received during the time he was President, that they belong to the Republic of Guyana and not to him?

To him.  

Baseman

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×