Dear Editor,
I read the brief article on the oversight of the design and signing of the banknotes granted by the President to Jagdeo under the Bank of Guyana Act. It seems typical these days that even routine government functions must elicit uninformed responses and comments by folks who could only aptly be described as keyboard warriors.
The comments to the article demonstrated how woefully misinformed some folks are, and as a consequence dilutes further any point they wish to make. Editor, in 1980 Hugh Desmond Hoyte was appointed Vice President with responsibility for Economic Planning and Finance. In that list of appointments was Salim Salahuddin as Minister of Finance. Can you guess who had oversight of banknote designs and signed the banknotes? Hoyte. This wouldn’t be the first time Jagdeo has signed our banknotes. During his time as finance minister his signature alongside that of the Governor of the Bank of Guyana appeared on our banknotes. Ashni Singh’s signature replaced that of Kowlessar when Singh became finance minister. Through all that time there was no vice president with designated oversight of finance. Editor, leaving aside the routine issue above, I do agree with some of the commenters that our currency’s value needs to be looked at and restructured to better reflect purchasing power and economic conditions.
Speaking further as someone with experience on the document security field, our banknotes are overdue for a redesign. The instances of minutely editing the features of the banknotes overtime has in a sense decreased its consistent appearance, and I can say having examined the currencies of our neighbouring states, that ours is less secure overall than that of Barbados, Bahamas, EC Dollar, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. In fact Bahamas, Barba-dos, TT, and EC banknotes have all been updated recently to incorporate a unified appearance and latest security features. Some of our banknotes have had the same design for over 50 years with a splash of colour added. As the country develops, we must ensure that instruments that could be used to manipulate our financial system – and forged banknotes are one such thing – are given the strongest protection available. As a country which is still mainly cash based, our banknotes need to be overhauled, reviewed for value, and strengthened.
Sincerely,
V. Hemsworth
