In a bid to stop any unauthorised spending, the new government on Sunday met Governor of the Bank of Guyana Dr Gobind Ganga and Treasury Secretary Nirmal Rekha, according to Minister of State-designate Joseph Harmon.
Harmon told reporters that the meeting with the officials was “to ensure that there is no leakage of monies from the country on transactions which were not authorised by us. So we have made it very clear to them that we want to have a pause on any new transactions or any new payments and we are also looking at payments that were only recently made.”
Asked if the government had an idea of how the country is doing financially, Harmon said, “We have a general sense of where things are.” Harmon, who had just left a meeting with President David Granger and senior members of APNU at the Office of the President (OP) annex, located in the Castellani House compound, added that it is not appropriate for information on the country’s financial standing to be disclosed at this time as “this was preliminary information.”
He disclosed too that the APNU+AFC transition team, during a meeting on Sunday night, formulated the procedures to be used in discussions with the PPP/C team. A meeting between the two teams was scheduled for late yesterday afternoon. “By then, we will have a clear picture as to what the hand over-take over will be like,” Harmon told reporters, while stressing that there cannot be a gap in government. He said that earlier in the day Granger went to OP and met all the staff, who were urged to give quality service to the people of Guyana and to make OP a model of public service. “We said clearly that we are not interested in discrimination …in witch hunting. They will be tested based on their ability to work. It has nothing to do with ethnicity, religious persuasion or gender,” he said.
Government has also started communication with permanent secretaries of various ministries indicating that very soon ministers will be appointed but in the meantime directives will come from OP, according to Harmon.
Asked about those senior government officials who were on the PPP/C’s campaign trail but are still turning up for work at various ministries, Harmon said that while the new administration has not taken a decision on such a matter, “our view is that when a public servant takes a decision to go on a political campaign and become a part of a list of a political party, that that public servant ought to resign that position even before he takes that step. You would recognise that there were some public servants who did that.” He singled out the PPP/C’s prime ministerial candidate Elisabeth Harper and Colin Croal, the now former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Local Government. Asked specifically about the heads of Guyoil and the GuySuCo board, Badrie Persaud and Raj Singh, respectively, he said that during course of the transition that information will be gathered and the necessary action will be taken.
Harmon was also asked about the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU), about which Granger had voiced concern during his tenure as opposition leader. Harmon said it was a sensitive matter and he did not wish to comment on it extensively in the media. He said though that it is part of the operations of the state and like all other elements of the state will be subjected to a review. He had not yet visited the unit but stressed that this will be done subsequently. Dr Roger Luncheon, Harmon’s predecessor during the PPP/C’s time in government, had previously said the CIU would coordinate all of the intelligence information gathered by intelligence officers of the Joint Services. However, the framework for its operations and its specific mandate were never made public.
The PPP/C government several years ago had set up a network of CCTV cameras across the city with the feeds being sent to the CIU, which has headquarters behind Castellani House.
While at the annex, Stabroek News notice a number of vehicles parked in the compound. Harmon later confirmed that some of the vehicles were state-owned vehicles which had been returned. He was unable to say how many vehicles had been returned thus far but noted that it was all part of “the accounting for assets” during the transition process.
Asked about his expectations as Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Harmon said he expects the president to be given the support needed, while adding that the office is expected to provide a high level of service. “I expect a high level of professionalism. I expect a high level of competence and I expect a high level of service to the public…We are not there to service ourselves. We are there to serve our people,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Government Information Agency (GINA) has reported that Granger has proposed to designate Office of the President as the Ministry of the Presidency, with Harmon as its head.
The report stated that Granger made the announcement during a meeting with staffers at the Presidential Complex yesterday.
Granger, according to the report, added that while other ministers will be appointed in the presidency from time to time “Mr Harmon will be the person who will be exercising the ministerial function under my directions of this ministry… Some departments will continue, some will remain but (the) most important thing is that we ensure there is no disruption, simple. Comrade Harmon will be doing the job that Dr Luncheon did with some exceptions. He wouldn’t be doing NIS but as far as OP is concerned, he is the minister in charge.”
The report also noted that the president would meet all permanent secretaries on Wednesday at the Guyana International Conference Centre.
