Dear Editor,
After all the wrangling over the pivotal Public Procurement Commission (PPC), the best that is attempted falls short of expectations, of what could serve this country well. The Opposition blundered first with the name it put forward, and as if not to be outdone, on the Government side, there is this development involving one of its nominees that has now taken on a different complexion. I elaborate using the article titled, “Nominee to procurement commission named as Managing Director of shore base company” (SN January 24) to share my thinking.
I do not know this fine Guyanese, but I am sure that he is suited to fill important roles. He did pay his dues, with some blind advocacies for the government of today, and those are the only credentials required by leaders; all else is naught. But now that he has been named to this post, he should do the ethical thing and go; or the PPP/C should withdraw his nomination. For I detect a conflict of interest, among others present before. He would be too close to the commercial sector, which labours under the worst of disrepute. He would not make for an independent, regarded member of the PPC, but one plagued with doubts from the inception. Relative to those other conflicts, I pinpoint one only, namely, where political groups-government and opposition-identify their nominees for the PPC. There is nothing more self-serving than that to politicians, and nothing that could be less of a disservice to the perpetually robbed, deceived, and misled Guyanese.
I speak not of contractors alone, but of the taxpayers who are hurt by the costly serial malfeasances, wreaked by close comrades favoured under both PPP/C and PNC (is there any other?) Governments. When we have this farce of comrades overseeing comrades, clearly corrupt ones, then there is scant benefit to country and citizens; the plunders multiply and extend indefinitely. It is what we live with when the exciting revelations from the PAC disclose the reality of money, men, and political masters. We pay, they play. On the newly minted Managing Director, to whom I extend congratulations on landing his latest plum, I would think that he would have his hands full with his shore base role, which would be to the detriment of any strong PPC involvement. Of course, he could be a master worker in the heroic mold of the Vice President. Moving to the Opposition, I noticed the replacement nominee, and I shudder. I think there is feeding of sardines to sharks. If ever there was a mismatch, it must be this bright daughter of Guyana. If this is the best that the Opposition could drum up, then I will be content with Cubans and Venezuelans, including illegal ones, to serve on the PPC. I might even take one of those scandalous men from GECOM. This has to be a joke, or I am the King of Arabia.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall