Dear Editor,
The parallel economy, however liberally defined, should be smashed out of existence. Now that is easier said than done, and I will settle for it to be minimized as far as possible. There must be no halfway measures, or casual approach, as this would be equivocating and send ambiguous messages. Even worse, anything less than the 100% effort of a full court press would be less than successful, and perpetuate the scourges stalking this land. Here are some supporting views.
Youth is imperilled; and so are some communities already devastated, and made more barren. Crime flourishes, compliments of the once burgeoning parallel economy now held to a timeout.
Second, anti-corruption efforts will fail if wilful part-time tolerance is practised. The continuum is easy to follow: the parallel economy means easy dirty money; easy dirty money compromises and lays waste officials and institutions (police, customs, courts, and prisons, among others); contaminated officials and institutions become collection agencies dedicated to cheating state and taxpayer. They multiply, and the multiplication effects cascade (not trickle down) into the regular economy, such as it is, with the cycle continuing in ever expanding ripples endangering bona fide commerce and law-abiding citizens. In a nutshell, there can be no genuine effective corruption fight, if the parallel economy is addressed in anything other than a relentless and comprehensive manner.
Moreover, all the vaunted codes of conduct and ballyhooed declarations would be rendered moot, if it is discerned that the
government is going easy, or advancing with one hand tied behind its back. Spending and jobs are nice, but this country cannot have it both ways. The toxins that have led to so much damage must be purged, or the criminally charged, pervasively corrupt environment (the parallel economy), given any length of rein, will prosper and incriminate all Guyanese. It will continue to intimidate and incarcerate them, too, as they have been for decades.
To illustrate, at a very rudimentary level, I remind of the once omniscient noise pollution plague. President, minister, commissioner, and ranks all pretended not to hear anything disturbing or improper. It was because the perpetrators were greased with so much cash, they could easily grease others sent ostensibly to investigate, but really in search of a pay-off, because they were the de facto law of the land. New measures, buttressed by a squeeze on the parallel economy, have introduced a new environment. When the cash is throttled at the source, and the enforcers of the law know that close scrutiny is the order of the day, then something gives. Just ask the neighbours.
Another byproduct of the dirty money parallel economy is that honest businesses are relegated to scratching out an existence; some are doomed. Others of a less robust ethical spirit are tempted to bow and partner, and before long the bandwagon effect takes hold, if only to assure survival. More insidiously, there is opportunity to spirit away and comingle dirty parallel economy funds in the shelter of longstanding local blue chips.
To sum up: the parallel economy has to be targeted through constant broad-based, no-holds-barred attention and action. The octopi can be trapped and cornered. The great sectional damage inflicted on lives, communities, institutions, genuine commerce and so forth, through crime, guns, violence, and corruption will be reduced. The operative message can become: don’t think about it; not here; not any more. Both crime organizers and crime busters will know where things stand. And so, too, will besieged citizens.
This is about more than jobs and spending, more than imagined sales and phantom profits. It is about impoverishing the criminal role models and the related ‘gangsta glama.’ This is about taking a country, piece by piece, that has been fed to the dogs. Wars are rarely won through retreat, and this country is in a war for its sanity and soul. Short-term tactical compromises could lead to the inevitable strategic failure. Any such thinking must be jettisoned. Now!
Last, I think that suffocating the parallel economy (if such could occur) pressures the government to introduce bureaucratic reforms (taxes, ease of doing business and the like), and concentrates its attention on innovative job-creating visions. This should keep everybody honest for the time being, and feet are held to the fire.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
