Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 24, 2017 Letters
Dear Editor,
President David Granger is reported on in the state media as saying “there is nothing corrupt about the granting of scholarships to Ministers Annette Ferguson and Nicolette Henry”. Along the same vein, I also have the Brooklyn Bridge to sell. First of all, the President and his Cabinet have violated the general principles of granting scholarship in the public service by not acting impartially to all groups, persons, and organizations when these scholarships were distributed.
This 2016 scholarship-gate was a giveaway fest for PNC party hacks. Even the professionals in the Public Service Ministry Training Division expressed private disgust at the level of political interference to one of my friend and they all voted for the Coalition. The line between professionalism and unprofessionalism continues to be crossed every day by this Granger government; it is like they cannot help themselves and act professionally and within the rules for once.
Secondly, the President is being absolutely unfair with the public with this statement because he is fully aware once these Ministers commence their program of studies, they will not be able to give an honest effort in delivering service to the public. They cannot be “sucking cane and blowing the whistle” at the same time. They are either Ministers or students during this period but undoubtedly, they cannot be both since a Minister is a full-time effort. Who really does the President thinks he is fooling?
Thirdly, this act by the President in doling out these funds to these Ministers evidently represents an abandonment of his responsibility and a failure to protect and spend public funds in the best interest of the nation. This act of having the Minister with one foot in and one foot out is nothing but public dysfunction, public waste and manipulation of public funds by the Granger government. Any high school child will know that this act by the Granger government is publicly unacceptable. Anyone who tries to pass of this public act of nepotism as good public services procedures is deliberately playing the game of deception. Is this what this President is doing?
The duty of a Minister is to fulfill their mandate in good faith and with a full obligation to the citizens of Guyana. How can a Minister who is busy doing an assignment for a school project be able to offer the Guyanese people top service? That Minister will never be 100% on the job and what is the most important role of a Minister – making decisions. So we can expect many clumsy and ill-thought out decisions from Minister Henry and Minister Ferguson in the ensuing period. Who really does President Granger think he is deceiving with this nonsensical “cop-out”?
In conclusion, this scholarship situation is nothing but a wanton abuse of the rules and the misuse of public office by the Granger government for private gains for selected members of the PNC. They have used non-public information to benefit PNC insiders, PNC friends and even the child of the serving Minister of Education Dr. Roopnarine who received a scholarship.
This is an abuse of state funds for PNC officials that bind the taxpayers in a relationship that has very little value for money for them and all the benefits for the PNC and WPA apparatchiks. The mere fact that these scholarships were offered to these two sitting Minister illustrates that they are gaining financially from a transaction that comes into direct conflict with their responsibilities to the Government and people of Guyana. So this last minute whitewash statement from President Granger cannot and will not erase the stain on his government concerning this unethical abuse of the Treasury. We must reject and combat these acts of abuse by the Granger administration on all fronts.
Surujdai Lilmohan
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