Government doing very little to uphold human rights and fight corruption -PNCR

Describing the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration as the “most corrupt Government” in the history of Guyana, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has accused the Irfaan Ali led administration of doing little to uphold human rights and fight corruption.

Leader of the PNCR, Aubrey Norton, during a press conference on Friday, accused Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Minister Gail Teixeira of misleading the country at the Government’s recent Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Expo.

“Under the PPP, the state of human rights and corruption in Guyana has plummeted from bad to worse. Instead of strengthening these aspects, the government has been actively engaged in unraveling, circumventing, ignoring, or butchering the legal and institutional guardrails for protecting and promoting human rights and eliminating corruption. Our constitution speaks about human rights not only in political terms, but also in social and economic terms. But under the PPP regime, all three spheres have equally suffered,” the PNCR Leader said.

Norton said it is under the current Government that the right of workers to a living wage, to join a union, and to strike has been eroded, and citizens continue to fear exercising their freedom of expression and association.

The PNCR Leader added that the right to good health and education continues to decline as qualified educators and healthcare workers flee the country for a better life abroad, while state institutions, such as the Guyana Police Force, have become politicized.

Turning his attention to the issue of corruption, Norton said it has now become normalized, citing the award of contracts to PPP’s elite, friends, families and favorites. According to him, NPTAB is a classic example of this with billions of dollars being diverted to the bank accounts of corrupt PPP politicians and the public officials who serve them.

Weighing in on the procurement system, PNCR Executive and Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul said the Procurement Act of 2003 continues to be abused, and has become a major facilitator of high-level corruption.

“We wish to report, based on credible information received, that in Region One, a staggering 73% of contracts awarded thus far have not been openly and publicly advertised. Instead, selected contractors were handpicked and instructed to submit bids for projects. Notably, it has come to light that the husband of Parliamentary Secretary Sarah Browne, who is the owner of ARK Trading, has been receiving the majority of these contracts, with the common-law husband of the Region’s Vice Chair who owns Supreme Contracting and Supplies coming in second,” MP Mahipaul said.

He said situation is equally troubling across the country.

According to MP Mahipaul, in Region Two, 65% of contracts were not openly and publicly tendered; in Region Three, 63%; in Region Four, 70%; in Region Five, 74%; in Region Six, 72%; in Region Seven, 69%; in Region Eight, 71%; in Region Nine, 77%; and in Region Ten, an astonishing 80% of contracts were awarded without public competition.

He said the abuse of the quotation method of awarding contracts is not only blatantly undermining the principles of fair and transparent bidding, but it is also systematically denying countless contractors a fair share of the pie.

MP Mahipaul said the level of corruption in Guyana is at an all-time high, and unless the Irfaan Ali administration demonstrates a genuine commitment to confront the issue head-on, it will only spiral further out of control.