Dear Editor,
Recently, while viewing a television programme comprising of a panel of 2 individuals, one of whom is a former Auditor General and the other Nadia Sagar, introduced by the host as an executive officer of the Guyana Chapter of Transparency International, I was surprised to learn that a driver’s licence can be very easily arranged with the payment of a suitable inducement, presumably to an officer of the Licence Revenue Department.
This according to Ms Sagar, was told to her by someone who it would appear gloated about using this nefarious route, because of the rampant corruption that has infested this agency, an arm of the Guyana Revenue Authority, rather than the honest and proper channel that seemingly is plagued with many travails. This programme which has as its host a well-known private sector executive and an achiever in his own right, by his very presence, not to mention that of the former Auditor General, only served to lend credibility to such utterances. It is noteworthy that neither of these gentlemen in the least sought to question the narrator of the statement as to whether the information was subject to any scrutiny before being put in the public domain.
I am extremely perturbed about the misuse of, and abusive manner in which persons today are using the electronic media, who are wont to make statements that are extremely damaging to the public image of public institutions, based on innuendoes and what passes for free speech in this country. I am even more worried that as has become the norm, persons who hold themselves out as paragons of virtue are the very ones who are guilty of committing the greater transgressions from their reckless, unfounded and unwarranted criticisms of others.
Were these individuals to come off their high horses and consider the serious repercussions that such unfounded anecdotal utterances are likely to have on the morale of those hard-working, honest and dedicated officers of the agency, not to mention the agency itself and the country in general, then they certainly would want to ensure that these slanderous statements are put through the test of proper scrutiny that they deserve to have, before they are uttered. It is ironic that these very self-appointed protectors of our morals, these sanctimonious proponents, are the ones who are least accountable to society for the public mischief that they create from making these reckless, unfounded and slanderous statements.
It is my intention to bring this outrage to the attention of the newly appointed chairperson of the Guyana Chapter of Transparency International (TI), Mr Gino Persaud. He is someone for whom I have tremendous respect and admiration, as I had the distinct privilege of being his employer for a few years not so many years ago, and it amazes me that one of the executive members of this prestigious body can draw conclusions and formulate opinions on the basis of hearsay evidence.
As a nation which still has the unenviable reputation of being stigmatized as being a third world country, this is the travesty we have to endure because of our colonial dependency mentality, from which some of us do not seem inclined to extricate ourselves.
I trust that my planned action of addressing my concerns with the chairperson of the TI will be preempted and that the damage that has been inflicted on the image of the entity can be undone with some suitable words of consolation befitting the injury inflicted.
Even if the perpetration of such a fraud could occur and thereby circumvent all the controls that currently exist both within and without, the holder of such a fraudulent document, because of its importance, can have his or her liberty seriously compromised, if it were to be determined, as it ought to be when a renewal has to occur or a random validation done, that the document was fraudulently obtained.
Of course there are other safeguards that are regularly engaged in between the agency and the Guyana Police Force, which for obvious reasons cannot be disclosed here, that prevent the use of such fraudulent documents. It’s a pity that these so called champions of our public morals do not make suggestions on how to prevent these situations from occurring when they spout their garbage.
Editor, the reckless manner in which such persons with seemingly unbridled restraint are allowed to pronounce on public institutions based on allegations, should not be condoned by civil society. Rather, these individuals must be condemned in the strongest possible manner, equal to the manner in which they chose to harm or inflict injury to the institution they seek to malign.
It is instructive to note that this TV host a week ago castigated the Minister of Finance for the factual statements made that a reduction in the rate of VAT would not benefit the poorer classes of society, using very strong words in criticizing the Minister’s statement, which according to him was “utter garbage.“ Needless to say that the utterance of such reprehensible and disrespectful statements on national television by the host who should know better, about someone who possesses a doctorate from a highly reputable university, is not only regrettable but highly contemptuous.
Finally, let me remind your readership that the GRA prides itself on having put measures in place to weed out corruption, and any law-abiding citizen should first seek to test the veracity of their claim before subjecting the entity to ridicule and being stigmatized in order to serve some narrow and selfish interest and/or agenda.
Yours faithfully,
Khurshid Sattaur
Commissioner-General