Government far from open in its conduct
SO IT'S OK in the eyes of the States of Guernsey to effectively put Immuno Biotech out of business by freezing their accounts and banning their products, and to deny people freedom of health choice (and, some contend, die as a result) because there is an investigation going on into so far unsubstantiated claims against the company. (It seems that all medical charges have been dropped and replaced by money-laundering accusations, while the crime whose proceeds were allegedly disguised has not been made known.) This nonsense has been going on for two years or more.
Yet when it comes to the business of government being briefly interrupted as a result of unsubstantiated allegations (i.e. the code of conduct complaints against Lyndon Trott, Mary Lowe and Paul Le Pelley) and the spectre of deputies suffering 'unwarranted reputational damage' is raised, the complaints procedure 'must be reviewed as a matter of extreme urgency', according to Gavin St Pier. (It shouldn't be forgotten that it's a deputy's job to communicate with the electorate, so they have far more of an opportunity to put their side of the story effectively than a private sector business does.)
The proposed solution is to make sure that the complaints and allegations are kept behind closed doors until an investigation panel has been convened.
On the subject of the States conducting themselves in a less than open fashion, during the last term, neither the Commerce and Employment Department, nor the Dairy management, nor the Dairy's customers wanted the Dairy's accounts transferred to the hub, yet someone somewhere in the deepest darkest shadows of central government wielded enough influence to make it happen. As a result, the Dairy now needs permission from 'the hub' to use its money to keep the milk price down. The last available figures (end of 2015) show that the Dairy had £2.9m. in its account with the Treasury.
If it's no longer there, then where is it, and if it is there, then what is it earmarked for? Why wasn't it used to keep the milk price down? Is there a secret plan to use the money for something else, like a new Dairy perhaps?
I'm not a supporter of the argument that governments should be run as businesses. But I can't help noticing that while ABC Plc has a Secret Santa once a year, the States of Guernsey Plc has a secret centre every day.
MATT WATERMAN,
Flat 2,
3, Burnt Lane,
St Peter Port,
GY1 1HL.
