[www.inewsguyana.com] – The State Asset Recovery Unit set up by the Government is making significant progress, according to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.
The Minister, who was at the time updating media operatives on the various initiatives implemented by Government, aimed at creating a more accountable and transparent public system, explained that the unit which is headed by Presidential Advisor, Professor Clive Thomas, was engaged in a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work. This has resulted in the recovery of several assets that were held by individuals.
“The important thing is that we recover those assets, we are going to go after those persons who have them but I am advised that it is better that we take certain steps before you actually publicized the names and the companies that are involved,” Minster Harmon said.
He added that there are certain individuals and a company that have been written to about the actual collecting of fuel by vehicles that did not belong to the state.
“There is one company that we attempted to serve documentation, only to discover that the company had shut up shops. By the time we got to the registered office of the company they had moved to some other location,” the Minister of State reported.
According to the minister, the Government’s resolve to recover state assets and to penalize those found guilty remains sharp and its operations have widened.
“But now we are more fortified, in fact we are now operating on a wider scale…in relation to the inter-agency collaboration on crime, we are having a greater level of coordination by agencies of the state in this regard, we are now in office, it’s the middle of July and you would recall that our elections was only in May but in that short space of time we have benefitted from a wide level, a wide degree of consultation and information from agencies that we have not had access to initially”, he said.
The minister explained that things are now much clearer to the administration and it is in a better position to take public action.
“The work which we are doing to recover these assets is not just collecting it but strengthening the institutional arrangements.”
Government, since its ascension to office has indicated its intention to create a transparent and accountable functioning public system. It has so far implemented several initiatives in this regard one of which includes audits of several key state agencies.[Extracted and modified from GINA]
what happen to PKK 2285 – PESTICIDE BOARD
well done keep up the good work
This assets recovery seems to be the biggest joke of the first 100 days of the coalition.We were led to believe that the looting and misappropriation was so gross that the country would have been bankrupt in two weeks.
It was clear that the previous government was much more meticulous in the concealing the spoils that the current government despite what they are now telling John Public is nothing but statements of compassion for failures to get the spoils.
It would have been more appropriate for the Governement to ask the ministers on the accumulation of their wealth than pursue this farce.
With all the claims of corruption and wealth accumulation it is clear that the squib is really damp no fire works expected.
This is the first big blunder by the current government.
On another side of this political work out the Government should not have scrapped the Amerindian $30,000 for community workers or what they called it.
This is a clear case that the Government has failed the test of social politics. While the claim that the money was for votes, it had a more fundamental role in poverty reduction especially at a time when there are no opportunities in the interior. What should have been done is that the Government should have re engineered the mechanism of the fund distribution and place measurable performance criteria to it.
This is the second big blunder by the current government.
While i support the change of Government time seems not to be on it side.This maybe because of the dinasor in the party having there way without any engagement of grey matter.
We are keeping our eyes on you. We want to see transparency and accountability. We will keep watching for racist favoritism and nepotism.
The burning question now is. When will those responsible be brought to justice or at least be made to account publicly as to how they acquired said assets?