The SARU claim was aimed at playing to the gallery

Dear Editor , I refer to SARU’s claim that $306 billion was stolen annually under the PPP. The timing of this statement is obvious: it was aimed at playing to the gallery, viz; the just concluded Inter-Sessional meeting of Caricom Heads of Government.

Many Heads of Government of the Community hold the portfolio of Finance Minister, especially those from the OECS countries. They are all au fait with the size of the economies of each member state. So are the economists who work at the Secretariat here in Georgetown. And the representatives of the Caribbean Development Bank and the OECS central bank are all equally aware of Guyana’s economy, including the Governors of the central banks of Caricom. Here in Guyana, the Resident Representatives of the Word Bank and The Inter-American Development Bank know quite well the size of our country’s economy.

They all must be quite bewildered at this alarmist if not bizarre statement emanating from no less a person than Clive Thomas. How can this possibly be is like- ly to be the query currently making the rounds in diplomatic circles. Thus, rather than having the desired affect anticipated by the crafters of this concoction it must have rocked the leaders while in Georgetown with uncontrollable mirth during lunch or cocktails. The following may be of some interest: Dr Thomas’ credibility is probably now severely damaged. It is hoped that the diplomatic and international cooperation community in Guyana would have taken note of the worthlessness of this scandalous fabrication by SARU and treated it accordingly in their dispatches to their respective capitals.

SARU and the propagandists at the Ministry of Information must stop the foolhardy exercise of waving these tattered red flags. It is getting the country nowhere. They must get down to serious business by addressing the pressing concerns of the Guyanese working people and the nation as a whole. They can start with the anti-corruption measures recommended by the parliamentary opposition. Yours faithfully, Clement J Rohee