Dear Editor,
It was Benjamin Franklin who remarked: Be careful of little expenses, a small leak will sink a great ship. In the absence of accountability and careful management, the most powerful businesses, empires and economies are invariably often brought to a crushing demise. On what basis and grounds, did the previous Government of Guyana, the PNC-R Guyana as part of a coalition of political parties saw it fit to allocate up to $0.5Billion (G) at an exchange of @200.00 (G) to $1.00 (US) equivalent to $2.5 Million (US) to International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G) and the thought crossed my mind, where is the similar grant to an organization in Guyana representing East Indians?
The Vice President of Guyana, Mr. Bharat Jagdeo, is quite understandably and quite rightly requesting the following: “How much of the $100M allocated annually since 2019 and $68M in 2018 was spent on paying salaries, who are individuals that were paid, what amounts were they being paid and how were they selected? How much of that sum was spent on rental, who owns the buildings rented, and what process was used for the selection of the buildings?” Clearly with the disbursement of such a large chunk of Guyanese tax payers financial resources, there may be no need for a forensic audit as that organization may have all its documents clearly outlining and showing how these funds were spent and this information needs to be shared with the Guyanese public as a matter of urgency.
What intrigues me is why is Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo only now after two years in government since 2020 bringing this important matter of tax payers funds disbursed to an ethnic organization to the attention of the nation and what other important matters are suspended in mid-air that the Guyanese nation has no knowledge on or the details of. This comes at a critical time when Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the Vice President of Guyana is the subject person of a Vice News Report on corruption in Guyana and Mr. Jagdeo brushes off any calls for his inclusion in an international investigation compliant with the requirements of the Rule of Law. In addition, both of the two major political parties, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic which is the current government and the PNC-R Guyana which is, in the main, the Opposition adamantly and quite inexplicably refuse to renegotiate the outrageous, horrific and ludicrous oil agreement between the Government of Guyana and Exxon/ Mobil Oil Company.
This agreement from the standpoint of benefit to Guyanese families from the provisions of the agreement and its application is simply not even worthy of the paper that it is written on. Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo questions further: “Why was IDPADA-G registered as a private Limited Liability Company where a number of persons (inclusive of Mr. Vincent Alexander) are listed as the beneficial owners instead of a not-for-profit organization?” As institutionalized corruption rocks the Guyanese nation and economy in all its crevices and financially vulnerable areas, I join my Guyanese brethren awaiting answers as to how the nation’s tax payers dollars are allocated, disbursed and who benefit directly. Guyanese families who toil from sundown to sunset to put bread and milk on their family’s table are entitled to know and be informed how their hard earned tax dollars are spent.
Sincerely,
Kris Kooblall
Toronto, Canada
