| Former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper, who has been handpickedPrime Ministerial hopeful, Elisabeth Harperby the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to be Guyana’s next Prime Minister, has failed to defend her Party’s record in government with regards to corruption.Harper recently visited the United States of America where she appeared on a televised interview moderated by International Economic Relations expert, Dr. Rudy R. Jadoopat. During the interview,Cheap Sports Jerseys, Dr. Jadoopat outlined numerous issued that are of concern to Guyanese living in the USA.Among those issues are the time taken to renew passports, the level of corruption in Guyana, level of crime in Guyana and issues surrounding basic utilities such as water and electricity.As he zeroed in on corruption, Dr. Jadoopat said that the lack of accountability and transparency has been bothering the Diaspora.“In the Diaspora, people are very concerned, because we live in America and we see how things are done here. You can go to jail if contracts are not in order or if contracts were issued in violation of certain regulations here,” said Dr. Jadoopat.Pointing to specific cases, Dr. Jadoopat singled out Fip Motilall “who was supposed to build a road to the Amaila Falls Hydro Power project. Apparently this man never built a road in his life, but a contract was issued to him and money was given…”Dr. Jadoopat also pointed to the more recent case of Surendra Engineering with regards to the Specialty Hospital and asked Harper what the PPP had in place to prevent such issues and what new will beModerator, Dr. Rudy Jadoopatimplemented to ensure these do not reoccur.As she responded, Harper cautioned Dr. Jadoopat that she preferred to “move forward” and not dwell on the past.She then added, “You talk about transparency and the system that needs to be put in place or strengthened to ensure transparency and accountability; when the PPP took office they ensured that the Public Accounts Committee was functioning. That committee is chaired by the opposition; it examines the yearly reports of each government entity submitted by the Auditor General that is one aspect of accountability.At this point, the moderator interjected in a bid to remind Harper that the focus of the question was on “these contracts.”Harper then noted that in “moving forward” PPP/C plans to establish an “independent unit” which will monitor the transparency and accountability of projects so that Guyana can be on par with international standards.She said that this new implementation forms part of PPP/C manifest.“People talk about corruption so what the government is going to be doing, is establish a special unit that will monitor corruption,” said Harper.When it was pointed out to her that corruption is an issue that should not be monitored but should be prevented, Harper said, “No, no, no, no it (the unit) will monitor transparency and accountability to meet international standards.Dr. Jadoopat then commented that it is “Sad that it’s only now (this will be implemented).Harper then pledged, “It will be done and we are moving forward.” |
