The parties and free-for-alls are over

Dear Editor,

I refer to the news article titled, ‘Some critics of State Asset Recovery Bill benefited from theft of national wealth -SARU chief charges’ (SN March 9). This is a reiteration of the obvious with which I agree wholeheartedly.

For a long time this country existed in a phantom world: phantom money, phantom business, phantom records, phantom taxes, phantom activity, and phantom crime-fighting, among a host of other perversities. Some may object to this as exaggeration; I counter that, in aggregate, it captures what prevailed as known secrets in full public view. The participants, whether directly or indirectly, or majors or hangers-on, all had a lovely time. Some of those benefiting were perched on the lower and lowest rungs of the economic ladder, such was the reach and benevolence of the activities of the compartmentalized activists in charge; and that the sweet easy money was well distributed. Pablo would have been proud.

To a growing extent, those parties and freefor-alls are over; while the one responsible party is reduced to baleful and baneful condemnation and perp walks.

For its part, the government has a herculean task on its hands; it is starting from below and behind scratch. It is seeking to introduce some measure of legitimacy and sanity to operations and standards through record-keeping, some accountability, and a level playing field. As this is embarked upon, the government collides with orchestrated layers of verbal chainsaws. In such circumstances things get mangled, and people seriously lacerated. As to be expected, there is lots of screaming and anguish. More is scheduled. Watch out: the chorus and crescendo of criticisms are poised to head for the heavens to distract.

To make matters worse for those besieged, all the signs and portents (and hard accumulated evidence) indicate that the easy times are over. And that that same sweet easy money (dirty money) is now largely idle. There is no upside in having it underground and unoccupied. Thus, it looks for opportunity to be put to work so as to regain some of the decades-long glory and associated notoriety. It is, therefore, opportune to take matters in hand by investing mere fractions to incite loud agents in structured consistent resistance to the new ways and new people. These political and corporate agents stand to lose face and cash flow, so there is already existing incentive. Additionally, the easy dirty dollars are doing nothing, so any positive movement through governmental ease, no matter how minute, represents return on capital. Everybody benefits: from the shadowy financiers as well as those very public presences, some elected, some selected, now beating suspicious drums.

There are all kinds of writings on the walls of shame. People have a problem with recordkeeping, a problem with paying, and a problem with disclosing. Like any conscientious citizen I, too, take issue with more government, more tax, and more stringency. I do have a serious concern with so much so quickly, as stated before. But I recognize my obligation to pay my fair share and to have no fear if or when government says that it has to scrutinize. Someone else said this: if there is cleanliness then there is fearlessness of righteousness. I believe that a few citizens represent what is right and also that holdings can be accounted for more than satisfactorily under any rigorous probe. Those who can claim the same usually discern no threat to official developments that go deeply.

Editor, I go farther and invite the taking of a close look elsewhere. The little women and poor men of this society go about and pay to Caesar what is levied. They do so with a heavy heart and a light purse made lighter by new profiteering. They are in pain, and should be in the forefront of the agitation and cacophony. But ‘deh bear deh chafe’ stoically.

So who are those in the forefront of the caterwauling and mourning? It is those who were very stingy with the treasury; those with suspicious funding; those with secrecy as their middle names; and those institutions that took the inflows and did no proper due diligence, no reporting, no escalating, and no nothing. They gave the people now crying a free pass. It is why and how and where an iniquitous culture flourished. It is also about who prospered. I do not observe any poor complainants amidst the highfliers still seeking an extension of that free pass.

Today lots of tears are being shed. Each drop is a mirror of the Guyana universe that was and still lingers.

Yours faithfully, GHK Lall