firstly from the highest official in the land

micevan1l6

As Dr Cheddi Jagan eased into office by 1993, he declared that the new PPP regime was going to be different; none of that high-handed, top-down, opaque governance that characterised his predecessor. No sir. It was the people’s money that was being spent and he and his government would make sure that the people knew exactly how it was being spent; every time; every place. Citizens Committees would be formed in the towns, in the villages and in every hamlet. They would not only suggest needed projects for their areas but would actually monitor those projects to make sure that there was no hanky-panky. What a noble vision.Dr Jagan must be disappointed. Not only has his vision been abandoned by those who have succeeded him in his party and government, but the sentiments are being trashed and trampled so callously that one can only conclude that some powerful force is at work to deny the monitoring of government projects.It all began when this newspaper, fulfilling its role of providing information to the people, exposed the chasm between money (“the people’s money”) spent on Government projects and value received.What was revealed was that billions of dollars (yes, we mean billions) were routinely not accounted for. Roads were built for top dollars only to see them dotted with craters a few months later. Veritable shacks were “built” at a cost of millions of dollars; drugs procured for billions of dollars with no audit trail; and so on and so forth.So we decided to dig deeper: we wanted to look at the specifications on the bids for projects so that we could match them to the people’s money being poured as if into black holes.And we received an amazing answer; firstly from the highest official in the land, President Bharrat Jagdeo. This top servant of the people declared that if we wanted to look at the specifications we had to purchase the bid documents!We let the matter slide. The President, after all, was under pressure. His One Laptop Per Family project was being ripped to shreds as a result of contradictions stemming from the very lack of transparency we were questioning. He was speaking under stress.But on Thursday, the Secretary of the Cabinet, Dr. Roger Luncheon, while briefing the media, in his usual deliberate and measured tones, repeated the position. This meant that this was now the government’s policy. And this makes us angry, very angry, on behalf of the people of Guyana.The rationale offered – that it would cost money to print the documents for the media — is disingenuous. In fact it is a slap in the face of the people. As one MP pointed out, the specifications could have been posted on the government’s procurement website at no cost.The policy and its rationale are also a slap in the face of Dr Jagan and the whole concept of responsible government of and by the people. How are citizens going to monitor their money being spent on projects?We said earlier that a powerful force has to be driving this process. Within the context of the revelations already uncovered, we can only conclude that this force is greed, avarice and fraud.We announce here and now: we will not be deterred by these betrayers of democratic governance. The people’s need to know will be satisfied. There’s no turning back. This is our birthright.