‘Middle men’ or lobbyists and persons using them to transact businesses in Guyana will face the full brunt of the law even as government looks at rolling out stricter penalties.
President Irfaan Ali made this assertion at the sidelines of the Canada Day reception held on Wednesday night.
“This is something I have asked the Attorney General [Anil Nandlall] to look at. I want him to look at how he can strengthen the law to deal with these types of people. Not only the people who operate like that but also the people who engage them,” President Ali remarked.
The Head of State’s assertion came on the heels of an extended version of a documentary streamed by U.S-based VICE News, which alleged that Chinese businessmen in Guyana are paying ‘middle men’ who have a good relationship with “officials” to secure contracts among other business projects.
But President Ali made it known to potential investors that while Guyana’s economy has a promising and thriving future, “there is no need to go through a middle man, or lobbyist.”
"There is absolutely no need for anyone coming to you [clearly] that there is absolutely no need to go through a middle man. If you engage middlemen and lobbyists who claim to have more than what they have, then you are also accountable and liable because it means you are prepared to engage in something illegal,” he posited.
Meanwhile, the revision of how these penalties can be sterner for persons trying to breach the process is ongoing.
Following the streaming of the extended documentary, China Railway First Group Company Limited (CRFG) said that the report was aimed at defaming Chinese enterprises in Guyana.
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