Dear Editor,
Within recent weeks, the APNU+AFC government has been facing severe criticisms in relation to the highly unusual approach by Health Minister, Dr George Norton, in single sourcing the storage bond from businessman, Lawrence Singh, and misleading parliament on the arrangement.
Reports indicate that Mr Singh was likely given inside information; the bond was still under renovation and not ready for drug storage when the contract was signed; a sum of money equal to the purchase price of the recently acquired building was advanced to Mr Singh; and the cost per square foot is more than five times the cost of a competitor’s building.
In Guyana, it is generally believed that there are few African-Guyanese entrepreneurs in the country. Considering that the government has expended a lot of political capital in favouring Mr Singh with this contract, I wonder why such special treatment could not have been accorded to a budding African-Guyanese entrepreneur to help to address the imbalance in the entrepreneurial class. And where are the voices of the African-Guyanese leaders who were so vociferous during the PPP years in government?
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash