The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has rejected a call made by the opposition for the shutdown of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) due to evidence of fraud, urging instead that capacity building initiatives be instituted so the “agency can serve its purpose”.
In a media release, the Union grouping opined that SOCU has a place and function in a society “crawling with corruption” and that it must be ensured that the entity is equipped with the requisite resources, the right skills and the right quantity of staff to function.
“Society cannot allow SOCU to fail. Mismanagement only benefits those who are corrupting the system.
The question here is not about transferring or dismissing workers; it is about using the information that came out of the audit to help in strengthening the organisation so it can better perform in the future. Too often recommendations about transferring, demoting and dismissal are not founded and guided by any universally acceptable principle but knee-jerk reaction to say corrective action was taken and case closed. We have to move away from such thinking and action,” the GTUC advised.
“Fighting corruption has to be done on several levels. We must look at the entire system. At the end of the day it is taxpayers’ money not being properly spent and could have gone into other areas of need. From information gleaned SOCU’s activities are in many ways flawed- inadequate manpower, inadequate skills set, poor accounting system and filing for retrieval and accountability.
You cannot put a man to do something that he knows nothing about and expect him to function. It is about suitability for the job,” the Union grouping added.
The GTUC noted that Dr. Roger Luncheon, in 2014, acting as spokesperson for the former government, had stated that the Unit was established to investigate money laundering and other financial crimes; the latter being a broad enough term to encompass “investigating state/government officials on the acquisition of property in Pradoville II, which is seen as ill-gotten gains”.
The GTUC further stated that for the opposition to call for the entity’s closure now, suggests that consideration given to its establishment was for another purpose and not what it had publicly said, and on the other hand, suggests that SOCU’s enforcement should be applicable to everyone but them.
“It is instructive when investigation is being conducted into perceived infraction of politicians they are quick to cry witch hunt, yet when similar actions are carried out on the ordinary citizens, said politicians will call for the system to work. The double standards tell that they expect the laws, they participate in making, to apply for others not them,” the GTUC opined.
