An interim board will be set up for the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) and will be comprised of representatives of the government, opposition, the private sector and civil society.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday said Cabinet has given its approval for the interim board to be appointed.
The life of the previous board expired last year, he told a post-Cabinet press briefing.
It was explained that the interim board would guide and direct policies for the office for the next six months until a permanent board is established. The interim board would comprise representatives from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Guyana Lands & Surveys Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the private sector, the diaspora, the opposition and the ministries of Business and Tourism, he said, before adding that Cabinet has also given approval for Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin to add persons to the board as he sees fit and based on the realities of the country. However, he first has to make a recommendation to Cabinet before a final decision would be made.
Recently, Keith Burrowes resigned as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Go-Invest in the wake of the change in government and amid concerns that his appointment was political. He said that though he no longer occupies that office he is prepared to continue dialogue with Gaskin to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the investment entity’s work since he took over as the CEO in April last year. Prior to taking over as CEO, he served as Chairman.
Meanwhile, Harmon said the Minister of Finance has put together an advisory team to provide advice to him on matters relating to the state of the economy.
He said that it is too early to give a full update on the state of the economy but he stressed that an assessment is currently being done.
“Elections were last month—at this time we were actually voting. So, there is a lot of things that happened between then and now and so all I want to say is that we are asking for some level of patience and understanding; that we are trying to correct some of the things that have gone wrong in 23 years. You are trying to correct it in 23 days…,” he said.
He noted too that all the new ministers are trying to find their footing and have been finding a number of irregularities. “They are finding things, they are turning up things. People who are signing contracts from the old administration even after the elections results were declared. People are actually committing this new government to contracts which we had no opportunity to pursue,” Harmon added.
