Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Vishnu Panday said yesterday that the committee is expected to meet on Monday after being informed that the required quorum has been secured.
Speaking with Kiskadee Watch, he said he is anticipating Public Works Minister Juan Edghill’s proposal to merge outstanding years of audit reports.
He said the committee must ensure that the outstanding reports are properly examined, adding that he intends to push for scrutiny to begin. “We have to look at the audit reports because we haven’t commenced any scrutiny. That is something that I want to push,” he shared.
Panday also said he is hoping that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will participate in the upcoming meeting despite their objections to Edghill’s continued presence on the committee.
“Hoping sincerely APNU do not sit out because of Edghill so the work can move forward,” he said, adding, “If they decide to stand out, they are playing at the table of the PPP.”
The dispute over Edghill’s participation had previously disrupted the PAC’s work. In August, APNU parliamentarians Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes walked out of a meeting after Panday ruled that Edghill could not be compelled to leave the committee. Their departure left the PAC without a quorum, forcing the sitting to be aborted.
The two opposition members had objected to Edghill’s participation in light of public criticism surrounding the MV Barima tragedy and calls for him to step down as Minister of Public Works.
Panday said at the time that, although he understood the concerns, he had no authority under the parliamentary rules to compel Edghill to leave the committee. He maintained that the PAC’s primary responsibility was to examine the Auditor General’s reports.
The committee has been grappling with a substantial backlog of audit reports and Panday previously warned that the PAC was about six years behind in its scrutiny and that, at the historical pace of examining approximately one year’s report annually, the backlog could take until 2032 to clear.
Meanwhile, Edghill recently announced that he intended to present a proposal aimed at bringing the backlog up to date so that the committee could examine the 2026 audit report when it becomes available in 2027.
However, Panday has cautioned that any consolidation must not undermine the detailed examination of public expenditure. He has said he would not automatically support merging the reports unless he was satisfied that the approach would allow the committee to fulfil its oversight responsibilities.
The PAC is responsible for examining the Auditor General’s reports and scrutinising the management and expenditure of public funds.
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