Dear Editor,
In the recent past, I have had cause to complain that it is one level of unfairness for Stabroek News to decide to rarely publish the statements of the Opposition, but another level for SN to be ignorant of what the Opposition has been saying and doing. Oddly enough, while SN’s Sunday editorial on the Public Accounts Commit-tee chronicled the relentless efforts of the Opposition to push for effective accountability of government spending, its Mon-day editorial decides to call the very opposition “moribund”. But let’s move on.
SN’s Monday editorial “Policing $56.8b worth of contracts”, in relation to recent contract awards by the Ministry of Housing and Water, appropriately sounds the alarm that a lot of that money could “go to waste and be sucked up corruptly unless those who are entrusted as gatekeepers take up their tasks with vigour.” The Leader of the Opposition, at a Press conference on 9th February this year, raised the very concerns, but in relation to the government’s entire 2023 capital budget of G$388b. In his statement, the Opposition Leader first alerted Guyanese that “almost all of the G$388B will be filtered through the public procurement system – in other words, through contracts to be awarded by government ministries, state agencies, and regional democratic councils.” Mr Norton therefore called for the government to put in place measures (i) to minimize corruption and financial mismanagement, and (ii) to ensure equitable allocation of contracts across groups in the society along ethnic, religious, gender, political, and social lines.
On the first issue, the Opposition Leader spoke about the role of the Auditor General and the need for what the SN editorial referred to as real-time audit, but in these words: “the Office of the Auditor General must conduct value-for-money audits for large projects—not only after construction, but also during construction.”
He, however, went further. He recognized a role for the Public Procurement Commission (PPC). Mr Norton reminded the nation that the Guyana Constitution (Article 212 AA) empowers the PPC to “monitor the performance of procurement bodies with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution of works” and “to investigate cases of irregularity and mismanagement, and propose remedial action.” No policing of contracts in Guyana can have an impact without a robust and serious PPC. The public must call on the PPC to urgently fulfil its mandate. As such, I do not believe that SN’s idea that the Opposition Leader should assign his MPs to monitor contracts is viable, given the size of the capital budget ($388b in 2023), the non-existence of staff for MPs, and the absence of legal powers for MPs to compel public servants and others to submit documents and disclose information on pain of fines or imprisonment for non-compliance.
Lastly, the Opposition Leader, at the February 9th press conference, highlighted the fact that only a narrow section of the population benefits overwhelmingly from contract awards, and therefore measures must now be taken to ensure a wider cross-section of Guyanese can benefit. He reminded us that the perceived and actual discrimination and disparity in contract awards were a core “Herdmanston Accord” issue. He therefore restated the need for the contract award system, while remaining fair and competitive, to include special measures to correct legacy and current discrimination and injustices by opening the door for wider participation from under-represented groups.
Sincerely,
Sherwood Lowe
