…owed over $190M by advertisers, political parties
…McCoy signals major restructuring to drive efficiency
The Rapid Financial and Management Assessment Team, tasked with assessing the various State-owned agencies in Guyana, has reported “worrying” findings which Minister of Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, says points to lack of prudent financial management, nepotism, poor working conditions, polarisation of staff and more.
Minister McCoy shared this information at a virtual press conference hosted at the National Communication Network (NCN) today. There, he revealed that over $190 million is owed to NCN for advertising by a number of Ministries, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) and even the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), though he contests the accuracy of the latter.
President Irfaan Ali has received this report and more from the Assessment Team and Minister McCoy said that, very soon, corrective action will be taken. The State agencies in the spotlight, apart from NCN, include the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), the Department of Public Information and the Guyana Broadcasting Authority (GNBA). Meanwhile, 15 other agencies are also under review.
Giving feedback, McCoy said: “We found a lack of prudent financial management; nepotism where the entities seem to have been for just friends and family; poor interpersonal relations; poor working conditions [and] polarization of staff.”
Not long ago, President Ali appointed a special technical team comprising of Public Communications Consultant, Christopher ‘Kit” Nascimento; Chartered Accountant and Attorney–at-law, Christopher Ram; Financial Consultant, Sasenarine Singh and Certified Public Accountant, Nigel Hinds to conduct the assessment.
Speaking specifically to NCN, Minister McCoy said that the company was driven to a point of “near financial collapse” and the situation there is “very frightening”. Addressing the $190M owed to the company, he said that some $16M is owed by the APNU+AFC, likely for ads during the last elections campaign.
While there was also a sum listed for the PPP/C, McCoy said: “The People’s Progressive Party/Civic, as far as I recall, did not use the channel of NCN to place ads and, if we did, it would have been paid for upfront. As far as I know, we didn’t.”
Also, at the Communication Network, he highlighted that there were three vehicles used to transport staff but none were working. He said that while it costs between $80,000 to $100,000 to fix these vehicles, other vehicles were instead contracted for a daily payment of between $7,000 to $8,000.
Added to this, he said that there are staff on leave without the requisite allowance, while several persons owe the company money. “There are little management issues like that…total mismanagement. Absolute mismanagement.”
Meanwhile, he said that the GNNL was subject to two periods of gross mismanagement under separate General Managers while DPI possessed significant management deficiency. At one agency, he said that the Assessment Team found levels of “top-heavy” staff.
Minister McCoy said that his Administration will now be working to reorganise, retool, find new management and salvage the agencies financially which will take them to the right level of success.
Temporary appointments have already been made at NCN to replace its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and at the GNNL to replace its General Manager.
The Ministry of Public Affairs will also be examining the Public Relations (PR) structure in each ministry at government agencies to enhance efficiency and will address the depleted staff compliment in production-oriented agencies. The Press and Publicity Unit at the Office of the President will also see its performance being examined even as Minister McCoy noted that “adjustments” are needed.
McCoy said that, over the past two weeks, his Ministry has been working to meet its mandate to create a more efficient Government appeal and responsiveness to the people of Guyana which has led to a review of the highlighted organisations.
The Ministry of Public Affairs is responsible for coordinating the information and communication flow between the government and the citizenry of Guyana. The Ministry will also work to direct public concerns to the government and will notify the Government on any act deemed as a threat to tranquility, stability and security, whether politically or socio-economically.
Minister McCoy’s responsibilities will also see him coordinating all government information and Public Relations matters despite being located within the Office of the Prime Minister. It therefore gives him strategic oversight over the aforementioned media agencies owned or partially owned by the State and the GNBA.
