Stabroek News
By Stabroek News Editorial – December 29, 2021
Almost two months to the day after the World Bank had staged its October 25-28 forum on the subject of Data Analytics for Anticorruption in Public Administration, in which it had made some pointed observations about the nexus between corruption and poverty in poor countries, the Stabroek News published in its December 23 issue an article headlined “Education Ministry signed contracts for over G$15 million before Internal Tender Board’s approval.” (See article below)
The content of the article had to do with, not one, but a series of blatant irregularities in the official handling of a contract “for repairs to the Queen’s College living quarters,” a modest assignment in monetary terms, as state contracts go.
The article is worth reading because of its articulation of what continues to be the flippant manner in which political administrations in our country ‘play monopoly’ with public monies and lawful procedures, in this instance, seemingly in pursuit of the dispensation of what appears to be a political favour, even as government continues to trumpet the virtues of responsibility, accountability and good governance. Continue reading
Under the constant din of whistling and chanting opposition parliamentarians directly in front of his face, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh piloted debate on the Natural Resource Fund Bill.
WORLD — Latest reckoning for slavery and colonialism: reclaiming looted national treasures – By Mohamed Hamaludin
By MOHAMED HAMALUDIN
The Rosetta Stone – British Museum
The British conquered all of India in 100 years and then ruled for another century. Economic exploitation was so massive “that its share of the global GDP went from 24.4 percent to 4.2 percent,” the New Yorker’s Sam Knight reported, citing a 2003 estimate by British economist Angus Maddison.
Untold numbers of cultural treasures were stolen, an act known in Hindi as “lut,” translated into loot. English soldier Robert Clive and his family looted several important artifacts which, Knight reported, are kept in the Clive Museum in England. But the British National Trust acquired around 90 percent of the collection.
Worldwide calls for slavery reparations are being matched with demands for the return of such looted cultural treasures, including the 26-piece “Abomey Treasures.” They were stolen from the 700-year-old Benin Empire, which the British sacked and burned in 1897; they ended up in British museums six months later. Continue reading →
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