More info needed in majority of declarations made to Integrity Commission

Secretary (Finance); Renick Marslow, Regional Engineer; Collis Nicholson, Senior Superintendent of Works; Kateri Joseph, Regional Education Officer (ag); Dr. Stephan Gravesande, Regional Health Officer (ag); Dr. Illona Spencer - Medical Superintendent; and Bharat Persaud, Hospital Administrator.

Listed under Region Ten are Renis Morian, Regional Chairman; Elroy Adolph, Regional Vice-Chairman; Orrin Gordon, JP - Regional Executive Officer; Maylene Stephen, Deputy Regional Executive Officer; Leola Narine, Assistant Regional Executive Officer; Dolette Powers, Principal Assistant Secretary (F); Clive Peters, Civil Engineer; Pansy Armstrong - Regional Health Officer; and Marcia Paddy- Andrews, Regional Education Officer.

The other two lists were published in November. The first contained 87 names, inclusive of 15 ministers, the Speaker and opposition Members of Parliament, while the second contained the names of 80 defaulting Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials.

The law requires that the names of the defaulters be published in the Official Gazette and a daily newspaper.

The Act also states that the Commission or the President, as the case may be, shall receive, examine and retain all declarations and documents filed with it or him under the Act; and make such enquiries as it or he considers necessary in order to verify or determine the accuracy of the financial affairs, as stated in the declarations of persons who are required to file declarations under the Act.

It states that those officials who fail to submit their declarations or submit declarations that are false or incomplete shall be liable, on summary conviction, to “a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars and to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months nor more than one year, and where the offence involves the non-disclosure, by the declarant, of property, which should have been disclosed in the declaration, the magistrate convicting the person shall order the person to make full disclosure of the property within a given time and on failure to comply with the order of the magistrate within the given time, the said offence shall be deemed to be a continuing offence and the person shall be liable to a further fine of ten thousand dollars for each day on which the offence continues.”