Dear Editor,
Seeing allegations by the opposition in the media that the Private Sector Commission behaves more like an arm of the government rather than a non-governmental organization, and that they recently voted down PSC’s anti-money laundering motion, I decided to examine its structure to see what the private sector stands for and who its corporate members and functionaries are, that could give credibility to the opposition’s allegation that this is not a private sector organisation which caters to the needs of the private sector.
The corporate members of the Private Sector Commission on their website are:
1. Banks DIH ‒ their representative to the PSC is Ramesh Dookoo
2. BK International
3. Correia Group of Companies
4. Demerara Distillers Limited
5. Edward B Beharry & Co Ltd
6. Excel Minerals Inc, a Brazilian company
7. Grace Kennedy Remittance Services
8. John Fernandes Group of Companies
9. National Milling Company of Guyana Inc
10. Neal and Massy Group of Companies
11. Queens Altantic Investment Inc
12. Roraima Airways Group of Companies
13. SOL Antilles & Guianas
14. GT&T ‒ the PSC website is so up to date that [email protected] is still listed as its contact person
In and of itself this list, on the surface, looks innocent enough, but look closely and you will discover that quite a few members are definitely pro-PPP and others are known to be on very friendly terms with Mr Jagdeo, so in a vote which necessitates criticising the government, this Private Sector Commission would definitely be pro-government. To put it another way, if I had a problem with the government and I had to approach this Private Sector Commission to get satisfaction, I would not be confident that I would get it. And I certainly would not agree, were I the opposition, to accept any nominee from the PSC as impartial or independent, as on for example, the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting.
Additionally the Private Sector Commission operates through certain committees, namely:
The Governance & Security Committee of which the chairman is Gerry Gouveia.
The Chairman of the Finance & Economics Committee Ramesh Persaud of IPED.
The Chairman of the Agricultural Committee is Mr Beni Sankar
The Chairman of the Trade & Investment Committee is Ramesh Dookoo
The Chairman of the Social Sector Committee is Annette Arjoon-Martins
The Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee is Kit Nascimento
The Chairman of the Energy and Power Committee is Clinton Williams
And the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is Michael Correia.
Also incredibly the commission issues positions on certain matters without convening a meeting of the commission. So again if one were to look carefully at these people, with a very few exceptions, one is looking at a list of companies which are doing very well in Guyana, a country which is notorious for not having a vibrant private sector unless they pander to the administration, according to the opposition.
The executive management committee of the Private Sector Commission is as follows:
Chairman: Ron Webster
Vice chairman: Clinton Urling
Secretary: Andrew Astwood
Treasurer: Ramesh Persaud
In yesterday’s newspaper Mr Urling of German’s soup fame is attempting to turn us all into soup-drinkers by telling us that there was nothing wrong with the foreign relations insanity of exploring the New River Triangle and that we must support it.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Vieira
