| …hopes for improved relationship with new administration As the new board of the Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) sets about to commence its work, the body hopes that the relationship with the new government will be better than the one shared with the PPP administration.TIGI President,Calvin BernardDuring a recent interview with Kaieteur News, recently inducted President of TIGI Calvin Bernard explained that the body was looking for new ways to expand its horizons. He explained that the key areas of focus would be institutional building by broadening the group’s membership, along with finding financial sustainability.He explained that corporate membership will also be critical and was an area in which the institute’s Trinidadian counterpart had successfully incorporated which significantly contributed to that group’s financial sustainability.According to Bernard, TIGI currently has somewhere around 50 members, a figure he opined was much too low.“Broadening our own base is something that is critical for us because it helps to raise awareness to other persons involved,” he said.Though he noted that TIGI was only about 5-years-old, he believes that membership could have been much improved had the group functioned under a less repressive administration.“TIGI started under a regime that was oppressive to any such an organisation,” Bernard said. He continued, “You couldn’t come up with a transparency type organisation or anything to suggest that there is corruption out there and get by easily under the previous government because they pretty much attacked anyone that was there to say something was wrong.”He explained that these attacks deterred people from joining the group for fear of being targeted. “We had people who were concerned about what it would mean if it comes out that they had contributed something to the organisation; what it would mean to them being able to compete or operate in Guyana,” he added.When questioned on the group’s main challenges, Bernard stated that most of the challenges were as a result of the tenuous relationship between TIGI and the then PPP/C Government.“If we consider the kind of mode of operating or relating to the administration the institute was forced into, I think that significantly impacted things and caused other things to happen,” he said. He went on, “You’d expect any young organisation would have teething problems in being able to source sustainable funds but when you add… that it’s being vilified by the government, then that would have impacted the organisation in being able to attain its financial sustainability.” He further said that when valid criticisms of the previous administration had been raised, the government, instead of critically analyzing what was said, would take to attacking the institution and the persons within.He explained that, due to financial constraints, the TIGI’s 9-member board of directors was not paid. He noted that, ideally, the group would want a director who is more administrative and who is paid and works full time, “but you need finances to secure someone of that nature so financial stability is something we’ve been grappling with”.Meanwhile, Bernard said that most of the group’s membership is based within Georgetown, a situation which the TIGI will be working to amend in the coming year. He said the watchdog group will aim to improve its public and press relations and will look towards developing in the near future better strategies to engage the general public.Similarly, he said, a strategic approach is needed for the body to execute its mandate of eliminating corruption through transparency and accountability. Bernard noted that the mandate was somewhat “pie in the sky” and “Utopic” but he said that the group will nonetheless aim for it.“There is already a strategic plan to guide us through to next year so to pin down projects is something the directors are engaging now,” he shared. “We do recognize the fact that it needs to link back to the plan and it’ll certainly be based on what was there in the strategic plan. We’re going through the plan and looking at our own personal strengths to address some of those issues in our projects.”Furthermore, Bernard expressed hope that the relationship with the government is something that will change with the new dispensation. He explained that TIGI was recently invited by the Ministry of Social Cohesion for a discussion on the workings of the ministry. “Ordinarily, TIGI would not be welcomed in any government type of thing,NFL Jerseys 2018,” Bernard noted before continuing, “So that opening of the door by the ministry to work with the TIGI is something that we’ll be looking more into. We haven’t quite defined our approach to the government but as it is we are open to dialogue. If the government sees it fit, before we make an approach and they want to approach us on particular issues, then definitely we’re willing to work with them once we can have agreeable terms.”He said too that TIGI will devise a plan to foster a more cooperative relationship rather than an antagonistic one since the former will benefit all.“That way we can work on having systems that are free of corruption so that you can clearly see that there is accountability,” Bernard said. |
