Dear Editor,
The story which follows is one, which as a Guyanese living abroad, I have heard too may times before. The stories involve different characters and settings but the theme remains the same – that of endemic, self-serving corruption at many levels, combined with the resigned acceptance that ‘this is just the way things are in Guyana,’ and that the will to change things does not exist. However, I believe that the majority of Guyanese, while they may feel unable to do anything other than accept the status quo, are deeply distressed by it.
After my father Judaman Seecoomar died in 2006, his collection of academic books was shipped from the UK to be given to the University of Guyana for use by Guyanese students, in accordance with my father’s wishes. The books were an excellent resource for students of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
In March 2008 two barrels containing 357 books were collected by a senior member of the senior academic staff at the Berbice campus of the university. He wrote to thank me and acknowledged what a valuable academic resource the books were. He said that he had handed them over to the librarian for cataloguing and noted how they would contribute to the university’s work in the study of Conflict Resolution. He even sent me a copy of a press release expressing the university’s gratitude to my late father’s estate. He said that the university was so impressed by the collection that it would create a Reading Room in my father’s name to house the books. He did say that this would be more likely to happen if I could guarantee that I would be able to provide ongoing support in terms of financial and other resources to the university. I was very happy to provide this assurance and later set up The Seecoomar Trust – a charitable trust based in the UK, whose aim is to help advance education in Guyana.
The senior academic referred to above, put a number of proposals to the trust and we agreed to all of them including that the trust would fund resources to ensure that the reading room would be developed into a centre of excellence for research into and the study of Conflict Resolution
Our first donation to the university was a sum of £550. The cheque was made payable to the academic personally. He had explained that it was too difficult to set up an account into which money could be paid directly for the specific purpose of acquiring resources for the reading room.
I visited the university’s Berbice campus on April 21, 2009 and I discovered that of the 357 books collected by the senior academic, only 136 had been given to the library.
Further, the librarian informed me that there was no Judaman Seecoomar Reading Room and that the university had no plans for one. Indeed, the university knew nothing of any of the plans that the academic staff member had made with the trust on its behalf.
When I confronted the person with these facts, he offered no explanation.
On my return to the UK on April 24, I contacted the Registrar at the main university campus and explained the situation. He agreed that the matter was very serious and required further investigation.
On June 20, I received a paragraph-long “report” from the Registrar. The contents of the report demonstrated quite clearly that an effective investigation had not taken place.
The Chair of the Trust, Dr PA Squires, wrote to Vice-Chancellor Carrington, expressing her concern that the matter had not been investigated satisfactorily. The response was, again, cursory and dismissive.
It was quite clear that there was no attempt to review the evidence and substantial documentation sent by myself to the Registrar or any will to challenge what is clearly a misappropriation of resources.
In the end, this saga of low-level corruption, obfuscation and complacency leaves a number of specific, unanswered questions, namely:
How could a member of the university staff request and receive funds and materials on behalf of the university without the university’s knowledge?
It is unchallenged that the senior academic had created a ‘press release’ about a non-existent Reading Room, accepted a personal cheque for £550 and had failed to hand over the majority of books entrusted to him. In these circumstances, what level of corruption would attract censure from the university authorities?
In the light of these concerns, has the university taken any action to ensure that this situation is not replicated in the future?
Do key members of the university establishment have any concerns at all, that the international reputation of the university is seriously undermined by events such as these?
What does it say about the example set to the youth of Guyana by the highest educational institution in the land, when such behaviour goes unchallenged and unpunished?
The broader concern is clearly that low-level, self-serving corruption is endemic and accepted at many levels in Guyanese society. While this remains a dominant culture, it is little wonder that stories such as these are commonplace.
Yours faithfully,
Agnes Seecoomar
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Professor Lawrence Carrington UG Vice-Chancellor, for any comments he might have wished to make, and received the following response:
“I appreciate your courtesy in inviting me to comment on correspondence that you received from Ms Agnes Seecoomar.
“We understand and share Ms Seecoomar’s distress and we have apologised to her in more than one communication. Contrary to Ms Seecoomar’s belief, the University of Guyana took her complaint extremely seriously and investigated the matter as thoroughly as was possible.
“Arrangements have been made to return the money that she donated to us.
“I wish to make it public that the competent authorities for dealing with any gifts or acts of goodwill towards the University of Guyana are the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar, the University Librarian (in respect of books and documents) or another officer designated by the Vice-Chancellor. No one else is authorized to speak or act on the university’s behalf in a matter of the kind unless explicitly directed to do so by the Vice-Chancellor.”