Taking a closer look at the Private Sector Commission

Dec 21, 2013 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Seeing allegations by the opposition in the media that the Private Sector Commission (PSC) behaves more like an arm of the government rather than a non-governmental organisation and recently voted down PSC’s anti-money laundering petition, I decided to examine its structure to see what the private sector stands for and who its corporate members and functionaries are.
This in effect could give credibility to the opposition’s allegation that this is not a private sector organisation which caters to the needs of the private sector.
The corporate members of the Private Sector Commission on their website are:
1. Banks DIH and their representative to the PSC is Ramesh Dookoo.
2. BK International.
3. Correia Group of Companies.
4. Demerara Distillers Limited.
5. Edward B. Beharry & Co. Ltd.
6. Excel Minerals Inc. – a Brazilian company.
7. Grace Kennedy Remittance Services.
8. John Fernandes Group of Companies.
9. National Milling Company of Guyana Inc.
10. Neal and Massy Group of Companies.
11. Queens Atlantic Investment Inc.
12. Roraima Airways Group of Companies
13. SOL Antilles & Guianas
14. GT&T – The PSC website is so up to date that mahadeo@gtt.co.gy is still listed as its contact person. In and of itself this list, on the surface, looks innocent enough. But look closely, quite a few members are definitely pro-PPP and others are known to be on very friendly terms with Jagdeo, so in a vote which necessitates criticising the government, this Private Sector Commission would definitely be pro-government.
To put it another way if I had a problem with the government and I had to approach this Private Sector Commission to get satisfaction, I would not be confident that I would get it. And I certainly would not agree, were I the opposition, to accept any nominee from the PSC as impartial or independent on, for example, the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting.
Additionally, the Private Sector Commission operates through certain committees namely:
The Governance & Security Committee – of which the chairman is Gerry Gouveia.
The chairman of the Finance & Economics Committee is Ramesh Persaud of IPED.
The chairman of the Agricultural Committee is Mr. Beni Sankar
The chairman of the Trade & Investment Committee is Ramesh Dookoo
The chairman of the Social Sector Committee is Annette Arjoon-Martins
The chairman of the Natural Resources Committee is Kit Nascimento.
The chairman of the Energy and Power Committee is Clinton Williams.
And the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is Michael Correia.
Also, incredibly, the commission issues positions on certain matters without convening a meeting. So again, if one were to look carefully at these people, with very few exceptions, one is looking at a list of companies which are doing very well in Guyana, a country which is notorious for not having a vibrant private sector unless they pander to the administration, according to the opposition.
The executive management committee of the private sector commission is as follows.
Chairman: Ron Webster
Vice chairman: Clinton Urling
Secretary: Andrew Astwood
Treasurer: Ramesh Persaud
In Thursday’s newspaper, Mr. Urling of “German soup” fame is attempting to turn us all into soup drinkers by telling us that there was nothing wrong with the Foreign Relations insanity of exploring the New River Triangle and that we must support it.
Tony Vieira

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