Dear Editor,
I write today not to identify what the government has done wrong, but what it could start to do to make things right in one particularly vital area.
A mushroom cloud hangs over Guyana. A cancer courses through the arteries and tissues of commerce. Law enforcement has been compromised. The political hierarchy is tainted. And society at large is endangered. All of this is known, obvious, and undeniable. I urge the government to do something about it, to start towards making things right. The question is how to do so. A good start would be by not reinventing the wheel.
As a start, it would be good to exhume Drug Master Plan I et seq. Forget my criticisms from years ago that they would die from inactivity. Implement those plans now. The Financial Intelligence that exists must be strengthened considerably, given teeth, empowered, and set free. Then, turn around, and monitor it for conduct that conflicts with its mandates. Investigate the money trail; inquire into the many cash deposits that have no relation to business and reality; clean up the airport (and other ports); conduct surveillance of the enforcers; and watch out for fires.
I wrote most of this years ago, including the need to reconcile the lifestyles and asset accumulation of public officers.
It will cost money; lose friends; expose insiders; require fortitude. Doing what is right could even render the government vulnerable. But all of this fades in the face of the costs extracted from society. Indeed, it is a tall order, and why should anyone want to upset a known and established equilibrium?
But, as I said in the introduction, I write today to suggest what could be done to start to make things right. I have outlined-complete with high level recommendations-on the what, why, and how. Incidentally, this is about narcotics and the gravity of its hold on Guyana. Now it is over to the government.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
