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Mar 07, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Change is in the air. It may not involve dismissals; it may simply be resignations or stated intentions to move on. The results are, however, the same; change is in the air.
One of the persons who seem destined to move on or move out from the controversial Privatisation Unit is its head, Mr. Winston Brassington.
It really does not matter what are the reasons for his eventual departure. Whether it was his desire to do so or whether he was pushed, really does not matter. He is not likely to be around at that unit for long.
Not many in the media are going to shed tears when he departs. Guyana’s privatisation czar has never endeared himself to the local media and most definitely not to this newspaper who became increasingly frustrated with its inability to extract from him adequate details of the many deals made when he was at the helm of the Privatisation Unit and NICIL.
The media had to go to all ends of trouble to obtain information about the many deals that were made by these two entities. Official disclosures were often limited and the Head’s willingness to speak to the media was definitely not as enthusiastic as the recent statements he made defending his seventeen year tenure.
That defence is likely to continue in the months ahead as the Economic Services Commission of the National Assembly begins to scrutinise the many deals that were made. So we can expect to hear much more from Mr. Brassington, regardless of whether he remains at NICIL or at the Privatisation Unit.
He is, of course, a capable individual and can defend his actions. He also cannot be expected to shoulder all the responsibility for the deals signed under his watch. He never had the final say in decisions since the entities that he heads reports to boards and to the Cabinet. But he is the Head of NICIL and the PU and therefore he is accountable.
As such, he is to face fierce questioning as to whether any of his technical recommendations were bypassed as well as the extent to which he conducted due diligence on the many deals that was signed by the government under his watch.
The media in particular will recall that there was a stirring defence of the credentials of Fip Motilall. The media was told that any due diligence would have been conducted on that individual by the party granting the Performance Bond. It is almost certain now that the Economic Services Commission will ask for the details of that due diligence as that body will also ask about the terms of the sale of the Sanata Complex.
Questions are also likely to be asked about how much money, if any, was spent on the refurbishing of the now Duke Lodge building before it was put up for sale.
Questions are also likely to be asked about the tenders for the building next door and why the second highest bidder was bypassed after the first ranked bidder declined to go forward with the purchase.
The head of the Privatization Unit and NICIL will have the opportunity to defend his record. And he should.
No hearings into the many controversial deals that were signed should be allowed to become a political witch-hunt.
Of course, all of the forthcoming hearings could have been avoided if there had been greater disclosure in the past. If what is now being so willingly admitted had been laid before the public before, if the numerous requests by this media house for information had been answered, there would have been little need for any parliamentary hearings into the deals. It is however good that there is now a greater willingness to speak about the record of the Privatisation Unit and NICIL.
If, however, all the various agreements have to be scrutinized by the Economic Affairs Commission, that body may well find itself tied up in looking at the record of the Jagdeo administration, leaving very little time for the examination of the record of the new administration.
As such, a better way has to be found to deal with this issue of the deals signed under the Jagdeo administration.
One suggestion is for the government to take the lead in establishing a technical committee to pronounce on some of the controversial privatizations and deals which took place under the Privatization Unit and NICIL. This technical committee can comprise experts who can be recruited from abroad.
This would allow for an impartial and fair examination of the deals very much like what was done when the PPP came to office and was concerned about the OMAI deal. There was a technical review done.
There is no reason why in the case of all the controversial deals done under the Jagdeo administration that a technical committee with broad terms of reference cannot be established to examine whether Guyana got the best possible deal and if there is a need to renegotiate any of the deals made.
Such an in-house technical review will avoid the political sideshow that the opposition and particularly the Alliance for Change may be looking for.
Right now the Guyanese people can do without this sort of spectacle. What they need are assurances that the national interest was not squandered.
Given the highly politicized and polarized nature of our country and given the political machinations that are likely to take place within the Economic Services Commission, concurrent with whatever that commission does, the government should establish its own technical review to establish the merits of the various deals.
This would be fair to all concerned. It would be fair to the taxpayers of Guyana. It would be fair to the government, it would be fair to the investors and also most fair to Mr. Brassington who, while he feels that he is being unfairly castigated in the media, ought to reflect deeply on whether his relations with the media could have been better in the past.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
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