Dear Editor,
The unearthing of the corruption at the Customs department recently is nothing new to Guyanese, what was alarming though is the amount, the level and the size of the well oiled machinery involved.
This is only the beginning of the breaking up of a culture of Guyanese public servants who have studied and perfected a systematic way of defrauding the government and people. I hope that no stone will be left unturned and all the leads will be followed to the end. Justice for the poor people of this country is needed, we have been suffering with low wages and half met needs whilst a number of customs officers and businessmen are enjoying a luxurious life by their ill-gotten gains.
But as the President starts the rocking of the boat I do hope that he will rock it so hard and continuously that only the clean and honest ones will remain. It is alleged that certain high officials, party and otherwise and Ministers are fingered.
I have seen public officials and corporate executives being investigated in the USA, for example, and serve their time in jail in addition to paying back the taxes that they defrauded. Currently, an executive of Samsung has been called upon to repay.
Guyanese must be no exception, they must dance to the music and pay the penalty. Having probed the customs fraud/corruption, it will be necessary to put systems in place to minimise the recurrence of any corrupt transaction in the future. The GRA will be expected to plug the loopholes. Perhaps an original document from the vendor may be needed.
Mr President do not stop at the customs department, rather, see the customs scam as a window of opportunity to probe other areas, notably forestry, mining, gold board, housing, awarding of contracts and the city council.
As a matter of fact, corruption pervades the entire country, it affects development it scares investors. I only hope that all the corrupt officials even if they include any minister(s) must suffer the consequences. They can be replaced.
Yours faithfully,
Deen
