Accountability Watch

Last Thursday marked 50 years since Guyana attained its Independence from Britain.

Baishanlin International Forest Development Inc. is again in the news. This time it is challenging the decision of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to seize two Lexus motor vehicles because of the company’s failure to pay the requisite taxes on the importation of these vehicles.

This column had carried several articles on Guyana’s efforts to address the issue of anti-money laundering and the prevention of the financing of terrorism.

Last week’s article completes our discussion on the conservation and management of our forest resources and the procedures in place for the protection of our environment.

Three matters that made the news in recent days deserve brief commentaries.

President Granger’s announcement that two million hectares of Guyana’s forest will be placed under conservation as Guyana’s contribution to combatting climate change and global warming, is a most welcome development.

A clean confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has a right to receive it, is the purest form of repentance.                                                                                                                                                                                                   Mahatma Gandhi   There was a recent letter to the editor in which the writer sought to defend the Minister of State’s actions in the appointment of a Ministerial Advisor on Business and in intervening in the operations of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) in its attempt to seize two luxury vehicles owned by Baishanlin International Inc.

Guyana has a total area of 21 million hectares of which 18.3 million hectares, or 87%, are covered by forest.

There was a recent letter to the editor from a former Minister who felt that the forensic audit reports should be tabled in the National Assembly and examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

I love Tanzania because of the light, colours and life in almost every scene.

Before proceeding with today’s article, two recent news items are worthy of commentary.

In the introduction to last week’s article, we made brief reference to the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn the ruling of the former acting Chief Justice on the “2012 budget cuts” case.

In the last week or so, the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of world-renowned historian and scholar, Dr.

There were two recent news items that are worthy of commentary from this Column since they have implications for the state of public procurement.

Last week’s article dealt briefly with the requirements for the appointment of auditors of companies.

The general debate on the 2016 budget is now over. It was to be confined to the financial and economic state of the country and the general principles of Government policy and administration, as outlined in the Finance Minister’s budget speech and in the Estimates.

A former Minister accused me of being unprofessional in discussing in one of my columns the report on the forensic audit of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL).

Corruption has disastrous impacts on development when funds that should be devoted to schools, health clinics and other vital public services are instead diverted into the hands of criminals or dishonest officials.

The Stabroek News recently carried an article which centred around a legal opinion that was given on the applicability of Article 216 of the Constitution to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd.

Last week’s article completed our “stock-take” on where we stood in terms of public financial management.