Gov’t working to strengthen institutions to prevent corruption

– President Ali

His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali says Government is working to strengthen institutions to put an end to corrupt practices in public offices. The President said systems, institutional arrangements, guidelines and procedures would be put in place to ensure there is accountability.

The Head of State was a guest Monday evening on the GlobeSpan 24×7 programme, promoting Government’s developmental agenda.

“I can assure you of working to strengthen our institutional capacity to improve the system of governance, making Government more open and transparent, creating avenues for greater public involvement in the Government process itself, opening up myself to questions that the public might have on the work of Government,” President Ali said.   

He noted that no country can claim to be corruption-free. Concerning Guyana, the President alluded to the issues at the Elections Commission which led to a five-month long election process.

“In every country the people may fail you, but we must never have a situation where the institutions fail us. It is the institutions that make sure that the right balance is there and that is what we have to work on, ensuring that the institutions never fail us, build them strong, professional and credible,” he said.

The President said that in the oil and gas sector, Government is wary of the involvement of politicians. He added that there will be an arm’s length relationship between the Government and the Petroleum Commission to reduce opportunities for interference. The President gave his word that Guyana will system of government that the citizenry could rely on to protect them.

“You can be assured that the institutions will be strengthened. Those institutions will be operating within the Constitution, within their different laws and rules that govern them and that there will be no political manoeuvring or involvement in trying to destroy that,” Dr. Ali said.

Last December, instances of corruption were unearthed during the evaluation of bids for Government contracts. President Ali is examining the matter to put systems in place that would provide little to no room for evaluators to engage in corruption.

Corrupt practices were also discovered last month at the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) and the Asphalt Plant. An audit uncovered spending irregularities and mismanagement of at both entities.

The former Minister of Public Infrastructure and former General Manager of the DHBC were both said to have received gifts valued millions of dollars, which were bought with money from the entities. The duo is also before the court for allegedly defrauding the DHBC of some $160 million in connection with a contract for a feasibility study for the new Demerara River bridge. Minister of Public Works, Hon. Bishop Juan Edghill had said there would be a major shake-up at the entity to ensure that moving forward, there is transparency and accountability.