Perception and reality of corruption – Stabroek news

As expected, the Minister of Affairs and Government of Parliaamen-Tary, Gail Teixeira, has set up a defense of his government’s history against corruption in the light of the Transparent International Report (TI) of this year that again puts the country in A little flattering light.

By admitting that it was not arguing that corruption was not a problem, the minister’s main statement was that “non -empirical and non -scientific data cannot be the standard by which such a serious problem is measured by international transparency or any other organization “

It is an argument that is often done but remains value to the position that you have developed throughout the years of its work and the credible sources of information on which it has been based.

So where are empirical and scientific data to test or refute the state of corruption in Guyana to come? The minister did not provide an answer, but she is very aware that there is no generator anywhere in such empiricism and certainly not a government in power. Therefore, over time, given the inherent difficulty of ensuring witnesses, tests and convictions, organizations such as you have been based on the perceptions of a variety of international organizations that have a very good feeling of what happens in the countries based in their own evaluations and the experience of your staff.

Let us put aside you at the moment and consider the situation on the ground, something much more tangible than perception. This is the case that in recent months the government itself has presented hundreds of charges, including money laundering against the police assistant commissioner, Calvin Brutus, who had been on a road to the position of attached commissioner of the police force.

What triggered the charges in the fifth year of the presidency of Ali is not clear when one considers that Brutus had been seen as one of the most senior figures of the force. It has also been argued that what has hardly been accused could have belonged only to him given the structure of the force. While others have faced related positions, questions are about the insidiosity of the problem in police force. You must see if the convictions will be ensured and if the gift it gives in its sumptuous wedding for a flood of notable will lead anywhere.

Routinely police and women have appeared before the court after catching the robbery, drug trafficking and other crimes. The bribery of traffic police remains a shameless and expansive problem that recently saw warnings that all should be equipped with cameras as a deterrent.

Recently, after a series of questions by businessman Terrence Campbell about a property in New York, the executive director of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Sherwyn Greaves, suddenly resigned from his position without providing any response. Think about this, the man who has been the director of Operations of the Program for the Distribution of Lotes of the House and allocation of commercial lands to entrepreneurs for more than four years has renounced so after legitimate questions were asked about a expensive property In New York. .

Although 95% of the housing program could possibly be executed perfectly and transparently, it is the other five percent that can increase the corruption barometer, since that is where the mega and bribes could come into play. There has been no evidence against Mr. Greaves, but the government has not behaved like the one that Mrs. Teixeira has tried to paint an image. No research by Mr. Greaves must be mounted at all. One would have thought that in a transparent government, the Minister of Housing would have immediately sought responses from Mr. Greaves and presented them to the public and, if justified, the launch of an investigation. The Minister of Housing has been silent on the matter and has also been President Ali, whose image of taking these matters was burnished by his famous meeting of the 5.30 am the fact of not investigating the accusation against Mr. Greaves is exactly which will lead to adverse perceptions of corruption in Guyana. The government’s silence did not mean that the main units against crime could not have interested in Mr. Greaves, but some type of paralysis seems to have strengthened.

In June of last year, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned the businessmen Nazar Mohamed and their son Azruddin Mohamed and the permanent secretary at the Mae Thomas Toussaint Labor Ministry for alleged corruption. The three have denied having acted.

The government had had warning signs. Mrs. Toussaint Jr Thomas was in transit to China on April 8, 2023 when she was subject to what is called a secondary inspection by customs and border protection of the United States at the Miami airport. They seized their cell phone and questioned it for an unknown period of time. Subsequently, it became a public knowledge that its visa had been revoked on April 10.

After this incident, she was simply transferred as a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Labor. It also appeared prominently at the Congress of the Progressive Party of the Government last year. His sanction by the United States refers to his mandate in the Interior Ministry.

According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of Treasury (OFAC), Azruddin Mohamed and Mohamed’s company, they evaded Guy -ana’s tax on gold exports and disappointed the Guya-16 Fiscal Revenue Government by declaring their gold exports to the Guyan authorities. Between 2019 and 2023, the Mohamed company allegedly omitted more than 10,000 kilograms of gold for import and export statements and avoided paying more than US $ 50 million in taxes on taxes to the Government of Guyana.

In addition, he claimed that Mohamed’s company had bribed customs officials to falsify import and export documents, as well as to facilitate illicit gold shipments. “The Mohamed company had paid bribes to Guyanés government officials to guarantee the non -unpleasant flow of incoming and outgoing personnel who move the currency and other items on behalf of Azruddin and the Mohamed company,” added ofac.

If only a percentage of this statement is correct, it would mean the corruption of a large scale that cuts any number of regulatory agencies of the Gold Board, the GGMC, the GRA and the ports to the police and ask questions about money laundering. infrastructure. In addition to a government approach to the United States Department of Justice to obtain information, there has not been a single local investigation of this matter by numerous agencies that should have interested in it. Certainly, that is not a perception of good governance, but one that is strongly in the direction of turning a blind eye to corruption. In addition, the highest public servant in two great ministries, and with open ties with the ruling party, simply set aside.

Stop here would be enough to expose serious corruption problems that afflict the State and the absence of resolution, but there is also the case of the flagrant adjudication of the non -qualified contracts that must be a tangible expression of corruption and not a perception. What makes it even more irritating is the absolute refusal of the government of Mrs. Teixeira to do something about it.

The case of the award of a pumping station contract to Mikhail Rodrigues of Tepui Inc is the most notorious of the examples. What exemplifies in a alarming way is the ability to corrupt the process of the bidding board to award contracts to the desperately not qualified but politically favored. Again, 95% of the contracts granted could be perfectly in order. It is the rest that could contain the main corruption tabs. By underlining the steps taken by the Government, Mrs. Teixeira pointed out the publication of the minutes and tenders on the website of the National Board of Administration and License Administration. That counts for very little if the process before the publication can be manipulated to make prizes such as the pumping station to Tepui Inc.

Under the subtiting of ‘Five years of progress’, Mrs. Teixeira lists all the measures taken by her government to strengthen the fight against corruption. She said this included restoring and strengthening critical supervision bodies. While some of these have been reactivated, and sometimes only after promoting the media as was the case of the local government commission, they are in the main personnel by people close to the government and the ruling party, asking questions about their independence of action. Several of them have been found wanting to address issues that fall within their reach.

Many of the actions mentioned by Mrs. Teixeira represent superficial bureaucratic acts with an insignificant connection with the real struggle against corruption. Interestingly, the minister did not mention the dying office of the Information Commissioner. Nor could he mention the very powerful weapon against corruption: whistle. During its four and a half years in office, the government has not been able to activate the legislation that blows with whistle, since it clearly fears what you can face. If the fight against corruption from the front was taken seriously, this legislation would have been applied and available for those with important information.

While one can stop incessantly about the IT index and what it means, it is clear that there is a serious corruption problem here and the government has shown little will to address it.