Harmon says Guyanese believe the country is in a better place

Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday declared that majority of the population is happy with the progress the coalition government has made in its two years in office.

“The people who are here in this country, I’m sure the majority, if not all, believe we are doing a good job in so far making this country a better place and a more accountable place for all Guyanese,” he told reporters at a post cabinet press briefing.

He was at the time explaining measures his administration has taken to ensure the perception of corruption is diminished.

“If there is a perception, we try to put out the facts to deal with that perception but sometimes there is a big gap between perception and reality, and depending on where you stand, your perception becomes your reality,” Harmon said.

He also noted that government has implemented several measures to stamp out corruption and the perception of corruption.

“We are doing our best to ensure our processes are clean, that there is transparency in what we do and that wherever corruption is found, action is taken against it,” the Minister emphasised.

Harmon said the early presentation of the National Budgets and the conducting of financial enquiries are evidence of the government’s fight against corruption.

He added, “if there is a perception, then it was there before and we are now trying our best to work our way out of it.”

Guyana moved up by 11 places on the international ranking of ‘perceived corruption’ – from 119, with a score of 29, in 2015 to 108, with a score of 34, in 2016. This was revealed in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report for 2016.