The EPA and Police must enforce the law

Dear Editor,

If you’re doing anything illegal, put yourself in order,” warned the Honourable Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo. In Guyana’s context, this advice is not confined to any one particular public or private entity, be it an industry, company, institution, organisation, club, person, ministry or agency. This is a holistic and national alert and with good reason to be alarmed. Only last week, the sudden closing of a financial company to provide payment service is tangible evidence to support the VP’s caution.

“Corruption is not a minor breach, it is a national security threat and will be treated that way in 2026,” Home Affairs Minister, Honourable Oneidge Walrond had said. In the past, companies have folded up, shipped their assets out and left Guyanese workers high and dry without immediate compensation nor information. Guyanese have been ripped off by various scams including fraudulent Ponzi schemes. They have been hoaxed by false love affairs from social media platforms. Many people have lost their property titles from rip-offs. Bank accounts have been exhausted by swindlers. Many senior citizens have fallen prey to vultures who have fooled them into signing documents transferring their assets into the wrong hands.

To quote President Dr. Irfaan Ali, “Every official will be required to account for their personal assets, and anyone who cannot do so will face the full force of the law. We will pursue both the corrupted and the corrupters, leaving no room for impunity.” Many government agencies have been riddled with financial misdemeanours and the State audit reports cannot keep up with all these transactions, perhaps, because of lack of adequate personnel and also not fielding staff to audit current work. Indeed, corruption is a “cancer that undermines the efficiency, fairness, and credibility of public service.” The procurement process is a procedure with constraints, conspiracy and compromise! Is the ten percent commission a compulsory overhead built-in expense?

“If you become corrupt, it’s because there is a giver and you’re the receiver. As of today, stop receiving, and persons must be charged when they come to bribe the police. I’m making myself very clear,” the Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken had instructed.

The question of “left or right” has stigmatized the Police Force for ages and must now be stamped out. The men and women in uniform cannot become susceptible to more than one pay masters, bribery, kickbacks and different inducements.

Minister Walrond insisted that there must be “Zero tolerance for bribery, collusion, abuse of authority or neglect of duty.” Examples must be set from the top so that the lower ranks may follow. There have been too many damaging cases which have undermined the outstanding work put in by the few good women and men in the Force. “Greasing of the palm” and “looking the other way” must become a thing of the past. Half fried rice or chowmein with chicken must not be an enticement for “favours.”

In the words of the Honourable Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, Guyana, “is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, recording a growth rate of almost 50% in 2024. This newly found petroleum revenue stream has made Guyana even more acutely aware of the pernicious nature of corruption and its destructive impact in every sphere of human endeavour.” Large sums of revenues have slipped under the radar due to a high degree of compromising from a number of sources. From the illegal shipment of gold to drugs and other commodities, there are a number of operations throughout Guyana which remained unnoticed to law enforcement agencies.

“So, I have been instructed by His Excellency to review the current framework with a view of strengthening it, increase the penalties and also consider making enforcement easier,” Nandlall said. On the last episode of “Issues in the News with Anil Nandlall,” the Honourable Minister of Legal Affairs devoted more than half of his airtime to deal in particular with littering and noise nuisance. It was a painstaking exercise but one that was informative, inspiring and invigorating. For too long this country has taken for granted the seriousness and repercussions of the effects of these senseless, sinister and shameful actions.

“Noise nuisance and garbage are major issues in our country… as decent, law-abiding, civil-minded citizens, we all live here. The environment is important. Public health is involved. Public sanitation is involved,” Minister Anil Nandlall said. The Honourable Minister vehemently stressed the monstrous behaviour of those guilty of contributing to polluting the environment. It is beyond the conscience of any sane person not to be concerned of the damaging domino effects created when they contribute to demoralising any civil society. The loud noise emanating from vehicles with enhanced electrical appliances is unbearable, unbelievable and unacceptable in any part of the world.

When bars and night clubs open until 5 and 6 o’clock next morning in residential areas, how do you expect law-abiding citizens to enjoy their peaceful rest and sleep? It is their constitutional right not to be disturbed by the operation of these businesses and this is an infringement of their basic human rights! Will the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security not protect this national right locally and join with the Attorney General in his campaign to stamp out this nonsensical disorderliness? “When we bring these penalties into the new regime, we are doing nothing new… the question is enforceability. So, we will have to work on enforcing these measures,” the Minister of Legal Affairs added.

Guyana awaits the full cooperation in particular of the EPA and the Police to enforce the law without fear or favour from friends, families and favourites.