PNC/R will have to account for $100M provided for scrutineers
- President -used funds to organize recent protests
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
President Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) will have to account for the $100M provided by government for the payment of scrutineers for that party.
The Head of State who expressed grave concern over the issue, told media operatives at State House today in an informal press brief that the government will not allow this matter to rest.
“Clearly the money has been misappropriated and misused. They have not accounted for a single cent as yet and from what I gathered there are some scrutineers that have fictitious names receiving payment, I have gathered also that some of the scrutineers are not receiving the full amount of money…We intend to get to the bottom of this, they will have to account for every cent of the resources transferred to them,” the President emphasized.
On May 8, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon indicated that information has been provided that the main Opposition Party received $100M from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to pay Opposition party scrutineers and has not accounted for the money over the past four months.
President Jagdeo said that the Ministry of Finance which is charged with the responsibility of such matters has since instructed GECOM not to pay out further money until a detailed report from the party is provided on the period in question.
“From what I gather there is no report so far. The reports will be audited by the Auditor General. So if they put fictitious names there, we are going to find the fictitious people, we are going to ask them if they received money and how much they received and we are going to hold the people who signed that return responsible.”
Since the statement by the government’s spokesman, PNC/R Leader Robert Corbin has rejected the charges saying that the government’s intention is to divert attention from the real issues which relate to the rising cost of living. He said he knew nothing of the government’s claim adding that the matter might be one for GECOM and the Ministry of Finance.
President Jagdeo said, “He (Corbin) should not try to shift the issue over to the Chief scrutineer (Amna Ali) who just collected the cheque on behalf of the PNC, so, when Corbin says that the PNC did not receive any money and that it is the Chief scrutineer, she has collected the money on behalf of the PNC.”
The Head of State also lamented that government may have been in retrospect wrong by not allowing the other opposition parties to received money for their scruitneers pointing to the Alliance for Change (AFC) who had been calling for such.
“We should have known better that anytime you put State money into the hands of the PNC they would misuse it, spend it other than intended purposes.”
The government through Dr, Luncheon has been registering its concerns about the slow pace of the National Registration exercise and the various problems being encountered by citizens when they attempt to get registered. Registration has been ongoing in preparation for the country’s Local Government Elections.
The President pointed out that Guyana is one of the few countries that provides funds for Opposition parties to pay their scruntineers but noted that this was done mainly because the government wanted a clean and clear registration process.
“Let me make it clear that we decided to give this large sum of money to the scrutineers because we wanted a clean voters’ list and we didn’t want the PNC to make the excuse that they did not have adequate personnel on the ground… without that money I doubt whether the PNC could have been able to organize a better protest because they are just bankrupt of ideas.”
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Services of CANU officers who fail polygraph test to be terminated
-President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
Officers of the Customs and Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) who underwent polygraph testing and failed will be sent home, President Bharrat Jagdeo told the media today at State House.
At a press conference on May 7 President Jagdeo had disclosed that CANU officers would be subject to lie-detector tests as the investigations into the allegation of financial fraud at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) widened.
President Jagdeo said an overseas firm was conducting the test.
The Head of State had said that it was the Commissioner-General of the GRA who had brought the fraud suspicion to his attention following revelations by the company, Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments had been embroiled previously in a matter with the GRA concerning the alleged smuggling of beer.
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President Jagdeo concerned over PNC/R boycott of Parliament
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
The People’s National Congress/Reform’s (PNC/R’s) boycott of the May 8 Sitting of the National Assembly has been criticized by President Bharrat Jagdeo who expressed disappointment and concern that the PNC/R Leader Robert Corbin did not attend Parliament although he laid a Motion dealing with the Lusignan massacre.
President Jagdeo speaking at a press brief today at State House noted that it is clear that joining the protest was of much more importance that using the National Assembly to condemn the killings.
“He chose instead to join the protest although he had that Motion on the order paper to be moved and be debated…he thought it was more important to join the protest… than expressing support and sympathies to the people of Lusignan,” President Jagdeo lamented.
Mr. Corbin’s Motion on the brutal and horrific killing of 11 persons on January 26 was scheduled for debate on May 8 but was not proceeded with since he was not present in the House.
The Motion was seeking for the National Assembly to extend sympathy to the families of 11 persons and the corporal of the Guyana Defence Force who was gunned down in Buxton a dew days before the massacre. It was also seeking for the House to call on the Government of Guyana to implement a definite plan of action to arrest the downward spiralling of crime in the country.
On February 14 the National Assembly passed government’s adjournment motion which sought to discussed the events surrounding the January 26, Lusignan massacre. The PNC/R had boycotted the discussion on the Motion.
Meanwhile, the President said that the PNC/R is bent on using the increase in food prices for political gains since it is known that it’s not only Guyana which is being affecting.
“I think the PNC has decided that it will turn a blind eye to what is happening internationally. They behave as though this is a Guyanese specific problem. You have had 36 countries that have had food crisis. People don’t have enough to eat now,” the President explained.
He told reporters of the United Nation’s emergency appeal for over US $800M to support the World Food Programme, “to give food to people who are starving because the price of stuff has gone up so much that they cannot procure basic stuff to give them.”
Several major factors have been affecting the cost of food internationally. These include drought, increased demand in the growing and emerging economies and the movement away from the production for food to the production of grain for ethanol.
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PNC/R engaged in thuggery protests- President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
Guyana’s Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed dismay over the protests being led by the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), which he described as protests of thuggery.
The President pointed to the demonstration held on May 8 in the city noting that reports indicate that persons were harassed and urged to close their businesses. He said too, some persons were also bullied to join the march.
“This is the thuggery that they are accustomed to and Mr. Corbin in his new image when he meets with stakeholders he talks about working for the country, a new culture, greater accountability and then this thuggery that goes on.”
He said, “They are trying to bully people to protest. I don’t have a problem with legitimate protest; people should protest if they want voluntarily but it’s this organized thuggery that the PNC is engaged in, that is a problem.”
The PNC/R led a demonstration around the city calling on the government to make interventions to ease the burden on Guyanese in relation to the effects of high cost of food. The demonstrators also stopped at the Parliament Building.
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GPSU call for 25 percent pay hike unrealistic -Head of State
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
President Bharrat Jagdeo said that the call by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) for a 25 percent pay hike for public servants is unrealistic, pointing to the country’s financial position.
In light of the high cost for food on the international market which has impacted negatively on many Caribbean countries including Guyana, on May 7, President Jagdeo announced a 5 percent salary hike for public servants, a temporary $4,000 non-taxable payment per month for those earning under $50,000 monthly and an initiative to keep bread prices from rising.
The President said that when one examines the $4,000 tax-free allowance and adds it on to the 5 percent across-the board increase, it is substantive.
“GPSU knows that its not realistic especially in light of the state of our finances and in light of them trying to protect corrupt people at Customs too. If you look at what $4,000 tax free is to a person earning $30,000 a month, that is over 15 percent. If you gross it up and calculate it as a percentage of $30,000 that is over 15 percent and plus the 5 percent salary increase. That is 20 percent at the bottom,” he explained.
The Head of State posited that his government has done a lot to assist the ordinary people who are affected by the issue which is a global one.
“We have made a big effort to address this in spite of our tight fiscal situation because we had to spend a ton of money subsidizing water and electricity. We had lost a ton of money basically subsidizing fuel, so in light of all of these things we have made a significant effort to address the people at the bottom and then also the support for some commodities and the removal of the VAT on quite a few items.”
As part of cushioning the effects of the recent increase in the price of flour, the Government will subsidise for the next four months the additional cost for the commodity to 22 pre-approved bakeries, which he said produce 95 per cent of Guyana’s bakery products.
Guyana, like many other countries, has in recent times been experiencing an increase in prices for some commodities locally which is largely due to price increases on the world market.
Only on Friday, oil jumped to a record US $126 a barrel, extending gains to more than 11 percent since the start of the month on fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying.
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Corbin living in a dream world- President Jagdeo
-no lawless protest can cause gov’t to make interventions
Georgetown, GINA, May 10, 2008
President Bharrat Jagdeo has dispelled claims by People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Leader Robert Corbin that government announced the recent interventions to ease the burden on Guyanese with respect to the rising cost for food because of the party’s planned march.
The President said that the administration was aware of the cost of living issue for a while now and had begun making the necessary interventions pointing to Guyana’s hosting of the Special Meeting of the Caricom Heads of Government which focused on the issue, the pushing of the Jagdeo Initiative on agriculture and the countrywide consultations that were held by government to ascertain the impact.
“Mr. Corbin now claims that because of his planned protest that is why we intervened and we gave the public servants an increase or we subsidized flour to the bakeries. Now clearly he lives in a dream world or he is misrepresenting what is the reality. This has been a long standing issue…We would intervene at an appropriate time once we get more ideas about how we can intervene to assist people,” the President explained.
The Head of State noted that the timing of his announcement was mainly because of the announcement by the National Milling Company (NAMILCO of an increase in the price for flour.
“Why did I make the announcement on the Wednesday? It was simply because on Tuesday the flour mill raised the price of flour so had I not intervened on Wednesday then we would have seen a substantial increase in the price for bread, biscuits and pastries across the country and we would not have been able to intervene.”
He said, “It’s the height of arrogance for him (Corbin) to think that his lawless protest that he had would induce the government to act.”
It was noted by the President that this administration is more concerned over the global issue which is affecting Guyanese, pointing out that under the PNC in the 1970s no such actions (interventions to cushion rising cost of food) were taken when faced with an international problem.
“We are more concerned than he would ever be about these cost of living issues,” President Jagdeo emphasized.
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