Dear Editor,
I am reminded frequently by my betters how the business of the people is conducted here. It would be more accurate to say that I reminded how it should not be done; and certainly with what took place at the board of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).
The princely sum of $150,000 was approved by the ERC for its individual board members. It may not be to the directors of the ERC, but I definitely believe that $150,000 is concerned regal by ordinary citizens getting $25,000. There was the yardstick; and no more. Thus, to approve $150,000 for selves under the now all-purpose umbrella of COVID-19 relief (now questionable) reeks of greed and self-help.
Editor, public service to me is a form of volunteerism, be it charity, education, hospice work, or serving the state, to name some realms of generous giving of self. It is why I am appalled at what occurred at the ERC; appalled at how other well-placed public officers hustle to squeeze every penny from taxpayers, while pretending at official duties. The latest example is a former coalition minister, who allegedly took things to another grasping level with extravagant charges for trips to Guyana’s interior. She was not alone then, and will now have plenty company from within the current government.
Editor, my position is that public service is not a grand opportunity to drain the trough of the treasury. Put differently, public service must not be a feeding frenzy for me or you, whoever that is. Do not bill the taxpayer for routine telephone charges, or drinking escapades (sustenance is okay), or transportation and rental and the rest. As I have always said everywhere, it is not the money of this or that board or entity; some purists may disagree, but it is not the government of the day’s money either. It is the peoples’ money to be handled with the greatest prudence. We can be more lavish with own funds, not with that of the people squeezed.
My own position enables issuing blanket challenges to all and sundry: investigate me. Check record and standards, review how the peoples’ money was spent. The record speaks. I recall potential contractors objecting and saying “guvment gah money dat doan run out.” Two counters came: First, nice thought; but ‘dah is nah me monee.’ That was the same approach to staff, who tried pushing envelopes, pulling fast ones. The word was: not here on this watch. Watch out….
Editor, I think the ERC board besmirched itself; the discussions over that amount should have been squashed quickly. Now they live with the infamy, which is so much a part of the costly villainy that haunts this land, and diminishes it.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
