By dpi.gov.gy | Photo credit: dpi.gov
Gov’t has put in place ‘safeguards’ to prevent corrupt practices, according to Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo who has reinforced the government’s commitment to accountable and transparent governance, making it clear that there is no deliberate attempt by his administration to shadow any appearance of corrupt practices.
On the contrary, the government has been very vocal in addressing this phenomenon, and has even implemented stringent measures to prevent such occurrences.
The vice president made the remark in response to a question posed by a participant at the Guyana Energy Conference & Supply Chain Expo on Tuesday.
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“There is no attempt to sweep it under the carpet because this is an ugly phenomenon that happens everywhere in the world, and would happen if you’re spending more,” he expressed.
According to the vice president, the government has been complying with the Procurement Act, reflecting the government’s commitment to addressing corruption in the public sector.
Under this current administration, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on a regular basis publishes contracts awarded on its website. He contrasted this with the previous administration’s failures to comply with this legal requirement.
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“The last government [in the last five years, did not publish] not a single [award] in clear violation of the law,” Jagdeo recalled.
The vice president has on multiple occasions been vocal on the government’s zero-tolerance policy for corruption by any public office holder.
In fact, during a high-level meeting at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, VP Jagdeo sounded a stern warning to accounting officers in the public sector that the government will be enforcing strict compliance with procurement rules.
During that meeting, Dr Jagdeo also stressed that all public officials must familiarise themselves with the Procurement Act and Standard Bidding Documents, to prevent deviations from the legislative frameworks.
“We have spoken about engineers who do shoddy work and design, or who may take some bribe to help pass work that is not done properly. We have been speaking about this publicly,” he informed those attending the Energy Conference.
Guyana’s progress in combating corruption has been acknowledged internationally as the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFTAF) recently awarded the nation the prestigious Best Regional AML/CFT Case Award (BREMOLT). This was awarded based on Guyana’s commitment to tackling corruption and financial impropriety by public officials.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also lauded Guyana on its progress to strengthen the management of oil wealth and fiscal transparency in its 2023 Article IV Consultation Report.
These are among several commendations Guyana received for its strategy to combating corrup
“There are No Attempts to Sweep Corruption Under the Carpet’- VP Jagdeo added by Caribbean American Weekly on
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