Introduction
Perhaps a window on public sentiment is reflected in the surprising number of persons that responded to last Sunday’s column, which linked the recovery of stolen public assets initiative to not so discreet intimations of destabilization of the sugar and rice industries. This week’s column follows-up by firstly, reporting on the insight afforded by persons who contacted me, about their observances regarding the misuse of public power for private gain. Secondly, it reveals the pervasiveness of corruption in Guyana, not from the quantitative estimates offered so far, but from the perceptions of key players in the economy. Thirdly, I draw brief attention to the economic time-bomb on which sugar is presently perched.
Variations on corruption
Those who contacted me revealed a surprising number and range of corruption allegations. The public bodies they cited range from government departments, state-owned corporations, semi-autonomous and autonomous agencies to regulatory and oversight bodies,
