While Finance Minister Winston Jordan maintains that the economy was being sustained by proceeds from the drug trade under the former PPP/C administration, he has dismissed a request by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) that he provide evidence to back up his pronouncement.
Jordan said the PSC wrote to him based on a letter he had written to Stabroek News but he was quick to point out that he never singled out any specific person or organisation.
“If, as Bob [Marley] says ‘who the cap fits,’ that is fine. I was amazed when I got a letter… asking me to provide proof to the private sector. I am doing budget and I really don’t have time to waste, essentially,” Jordan told a press conference last Wednesday.
“I never referred to Private Sector Commission. I never referred to George-town Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I never referred to Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association. I never referred to any private sector organisation. I referred to some in the private sector who benefited significantly from nefarious activities,” he explained.
The Minister of Finance had written a letter to this newspaper, which was published on October 9th, in rebuttal to an editorial on the APNU+AFC’s performance. “Of course, this comes from a newspaper that is owned by a wealthy family that over the years has served as the megaphone for the private sector, several of whose members became obscenely rich through corrupt schemes, massive tax evasion and other nefarious activities under the former PPP/C regime,” Jordan wrote.
“As to your criticism of my so called “less than exemplary performance in charge of the Ministry of Finance portfolio,” you must have forgotten, conveniently, the deformed and broken economy that our government inherited in 2015. Lest we forget, too, that economy thrived on rampant drug trafficking, money laundering, and a banking sector in which a few institutions recklessly lent funds for private white elephant projects,” he added.
His letter triggered a response from the PSC, which in turn wrote to him seeking a meeting to understand the basis of his statement on how proceeds from the drug trade affected the economy.
“We shall be grateful to be briefed by you on the assertions made that the economy pre-May 2015 was heavily based on proceeds of the drug trade and that the current economy post-May 2015 is no longer affected by such proceeds. As businesses it is important for us to understand the underlying structure of the economy and the various elements that contribute or inhibit its growth. We look forward to such a brief so that we could better understand the empirical evidence supporting your assertions,” the letter stated.
But Jordan dismissed the request as trivial and added that while he did not specifically cite drug dealing as the nefarious activity, studies were done and reported on to this end. It was on this basis, he said, that he would say directly that “the economy was run by drugs.”
“Before I said that, there were two or three studies done by Professor Clive Thomas. The evidence had been produced by Professor Clive Thomas. Before I ever said anything, a similar statement was made in 2012 by a high level official of the PPP and it is there. It was reported in a number of newspapers. I looked back, I researched it, it is on the internet,” he said.
“I will tell you this now, where the economy is at today, it is proof positive that the economy was being run by drugs, run by significant input from drugs,” he added.
Incestuous
Meanwhile, former president and now Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo subsequently criticised Jordan’s comments, saying that to rely on Thomas’ studies is “incestuous,” given that the latter is part of the current government.
At his weekly press conference last Thursday, Jagdeo said while the current government through the Special Organised Crime Unit was filing cases against opposition members “for failing to update the general ledger,” it was also watching accused drug trafficker Shervington “Big Head” Lovell from a distance and he had to go to Jamaica to be caught.
Jordan and other government ministers, he said, have talked a lot about how much evidence they have that the economy was driven by proceeds of the drug trade prior to taking office but they can provide no proof.
Jordan, he said, also used a similar statement made by a high level official of the PPP who had no evidence to back up his claim.
Jagdeo said he has never seen any evidence outside of allegations. On the other hand, he said SOCU had been watching Lovell from a distance while filing cases against members of the PPP who were in the former government but they could not catch him.
