Dear Editor,
I can’t stop yawning since the conclusions of the pristine Public Procurement Commission (PPC) came to a jarring crescendo. I came to my own conclusions and no citizen could accuse me of rushing to conclusions about the so-called PPC deliberations over that untouchable contract. What was it, eight weeks, ten, before that Olympian judgment of the PPC was handed down; so, who rushed anything? Put people with the right pedigree, the proper frame of mind, the fluidity of principles and this is what is to be expected. Nothing. Not one thing can be done. No standing, no say. Nice job, ladies and gents. A raise is coming. Now some questions.
The PPC found all that was wrong, as suspected, with that Tepui contract, and that’s it. Job done. To a point, yes. But why not recommend that the contract be scrapped? What is stopping the body from taking that step, and letting the awardee bear the costs of disruption? It was flawed and a farce from the start, so there is no need to continue with it now. The PPC had to come out with the clearest words and let the chips fall. The findings speak for themselves, and there must be recommendations on how to deal with what took place. The PPC cannot retreat from taking the crocodile by the jaws and pulling them apart. Recommend that the national tender board be disbanded, and all its processes be overhauled.
There were not one or two lapses, but a total collapse of legitimate scrutiny, and not doing justice to the duties given. I believe that this is the prevailing standard. The PPC must be recognized for doing some diligent work, then it took the easy way out: impotent to proceed with more. Clean governance and the mandatory remedial actions demand such a stance, and the PPC should not have shrunk in trepidation at the pivotal moment. The report just hangs there, with some noises about tightening up to come, and it is back to the usual merry go round and PPP contract award playgrounds.
There is certainty in this corner that the president and vice president are going to jump up and down and holler about how serious they are about wrongdoing. Then, it must give to places like the PPC people with spine and gonads. As already said, the tender board should be purged and purified. Those failures are too many and too egregious for the people there to continue. I think a criminal investigation may be necessary. Re the PPC, the word is that there are some smart people in that, ah that, construction. I agree. Guyanese gat ah sayin’: dah maan dah is a rail smaat man. Or, he tink dat he alone smaat. So as not to insult anyone, and keep things delicate, I discard smart and insert silky.
Clearly, much thinking went into that PPC report now on a public casket. It smells of the dead: that indefinable, detectable aroma that hovers like a pall, and which even the best undertakers cannot smother. I credit the people of the PPC for trying so valiantly to come up with this embalming that releases such a perfume. What was removed from the carcass of that contract, as in cut out? I sense an admirable (or repulsive) effort at sanitizing, a report that went through a laundromat. Not just one washer, but all the danged washers in the shop. Some blotches have been minimized (smudges reduced, not eliminated), but there is that crumpled look of clothes that went through several iterations. In business, those are called revisions to manage meaninglessness. The award was so bad that what came out could not be concealed. It is what was finagled, switched around, smoothed over to get to the public document.
The little PPC glimpse of the real Guyana is what drives Bharrat into frenzies and hissy fits, when people like me point. Is this clean governance? Instead of fixing things, Jagdeo prefers to fight unwinnable fights. Yesterday, it was the UN, tomorrow it is going to be TIGI, and next week some people dealing in corruption indexes. To hell with perceptions of corruption trumping reality. Look at the PPC. I really should get some smarts of my own. We had a saying in Manhattan: why fight State Street? Why do battle with Wall Street. I am still standing. Perhaps, I should start moving. I close with polling fellow Guyanese: why challenge the sinister PPP mafia, the PPP dirty machine? Why not join and come in for a lot of money? I plan on asking my best comrades, Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali in person. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
