The Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) yesterday said that the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport of the Ministry of Education has been dragging its feet on a probe into the alleged misuse by its staff of state-owned steel pans.
In a statement issued yesterday, TIGI said it received a complaint in June 23, 2015, alleging that the Department’s staff had been using the steel pans for personal gains at events not sanctioned by the Department. It was also alleged that senior officials were aware of the problem but have failed to intervene.
TIGI said on July 2, 2015, it subsequently wrote Junior Education Minister Nicolette Henry on the allegations. It added that in following up on the letter, it called the ministry and was told that the complaint had been forwarded to another senior official, who will handle the matter. It said it awaited feedback from the official for several weeks but to no avail.
“We then sent a follow-up e-mail on August 14, 2015 urging an investigation into the complaint and requested that the findings be forwarded to us.
We received a response the same day stating that the Ministry had launched an investigation into all related complaints and that a copy of the report will be forwarded to us upon completion,” it noted.
However, according to TIGI, more than five months later, no report has been received. It added that after several follow-up e-mails and phone calls, it was told by the senior official in November, 2015, that the Ministry had expected a report to be available by the end of August but it had not yet been completed. “TIGI, as an organization committed to eradicating corruption in Guyana, is appalled and disappointed at the sloth demonstrated in investigating and reporting on such an important matter,” it said. “We expected that a Ministry would work with a greater sense of urgency towards protecting its integrity.
We would like to strongly encourage organizations, particularly Govern-ment Agencies to take matters of accountability seriously and to uphold high standards of transparency by disclosing information to the public in a timely manner. This is important in building trust with your citizens. We are still hoping to see the findings of this investigation sometime soon,” it added.