Transparency body seeking funding for schools education programme

Troy Thomas
Troy Thomas

Highlighting that Trans-parency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) has recorded some successes and is having an impact on society, its President, Troy Thomas, says funding is needed to roll out an education project in secondary schools.

In an interview with Stabroek News, Thomas said that the institute’s reach is affected by financial constraints as its annual fund raising dinner is insufficient to support the amount of work it ought to be doing.

He informed that since taking the helm of TIGI, various things aimed at educating the public about corruption and transparency issues have been done.

According to Thomas, the institute wants to do some work at the University of Guyana (UG) and in secondary schools.

At UG, the plan is to influence the establishment of a club to focus on ethics and integrity issues, he said, explaining that this will get young people to think about these issues and to hopefully have an impact on their lives.

Thomas informed that the institute has a similar idea for secondary schools but it hasn’t gotten off the ground yet due to the unavailability of funding. Defending the idea, he said that learning about anti-corruption in school can equip children with useful tools for their adult years. He posited that this should be incorporated into the Social Studies curriculum.

Further, he said that such an initiative was introduced in Trinidad a year ago while Jamaica had developed a model. TIGI, he stressed, wants to replicate this idea here but there is need for funding.

Thomas informed that with funding from the British High Commission, the institute held discussions with councillors and members of the public in several regions about local government. The turnout in Region Four, he said, was poor while the turnout in Regions Six and Ten was better.

“We need to be able to sustain these efforts and that’s where we are falling down. You get some funding….but you don’t have it on a yearly basis…,” he said, adding that TIGI is hopeful that proposals it recently wrote, will attract the much needed funding.

The transparency body’s head pointed out too that the money collected from TIGI’s annual dinner is used to run the office. He explained that it usually runs out before the year ends. When this happens, members make donations.

Meanwhile, he said that while the institute has not done a study to determine the extent of its impact, based on his interactions, persons have taken note of the work being done.

TIGI, he said, has taken the lead on several matters which have produced results. “It is difficult to attribute it clearly to the institute but there are things that were pushed for, that were realised,” he observed.

There is also evidence of an impact on people. “We have a hand in helping people to become aware of issues and there are many people who would meet me …and come and talk,” he said, before recalling a recent encounter with a UG security guard.

He said that two weeks ago, while on the campus, the security guard called out to him and spoke of transparency issues and the government. “That sort of thing means to me that the message is getting to people and they are thinking about it to the extent that they would approach you and start talking about it and to me that is an impact. If we get more and more people aware, we are hoping that people [will] start to make more informed choices or more critical choices when it comes to those issues,” he said.

Thomas added that the institute might not have the power to force government to do what is being pushed for “but if we can work through people and their voices come to the fore, that is our impact.”

According to its website, TIGI was born out of concern at the level of corruption perceived to be in Guyanese society.  The organisation was incorporated in November 2010 under the Companies Act (1991) as a non-profit organisation devoted to the promotion of good governance, transparency and greater accountability, and assisting in the fight against corruption.

“TIGI is committed to making a difference in Guyana by speaking out about practices and activities that are corrupt, raising awareness about the ill effects of corruption and developing and disseminating measures to curb corruption,” the website informed, adding that TIGI is an affiliate of Transparency International (TI), headquartered in Berlin, Germany, which has a presence in over 100 countries.

Since its establishment, an integral part of TIGI’s work has been sensitising the public about corruption; its causes, consequences and adverse effects, and what they can do to minimise its occurrence, the website said. In this regard, TIGI expressed gratitude to various organisations including High Commissions for their financial assistance especially at the start-up phase and particularly in regards to their outreach programmes involving visits to various locations, the placing of public service advertisements, the installation of billboards and banners and the production and distribution of flyers.

TIGI is located at 157 Waterloo Street. Contact can be made on telephone number 231 9586 or by sending an email to infotransparencygy@gmail.com.