The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended sanctions against accounting officers, engineers and clerks of works found to have breached financial management requirements, after identifying a series of weaknesses in the handling of public funds during 2017 and 2018.
Among the issues highlighted in the committee’s report on its examination of Guyana’s public accounts for the two years were payments to contractors for incomplete works, overpayments by budget agencies, unauthorised contract variations and inadequate supervision of projects at ministerial and regional levels.
The findings were highlighted in the National Assembly yesterday as PAC Chairman Vishnu Panday moved a motion for the report to be adopted.
The committee identified cases where contractors were paid for variations to projects without the necessary authorisation or approved variation orders. Additionally, discrepancies were found between measurements of works conducted by engineers attached to ministries and those undertaken by the Audit Office, while several projects were found to have been inadequately supervised by the relevant authorities, including Regional Works Committees.
The report further highlighted persistent non-compliance with the Stores Regulations, inadequate maintenance of logbooks and instances in which money was not refunded to the Consolidated Fund.
It also identified weaknesses in the reconciliation of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies delivered by the Ministry of Public Health to the regions.
In response to these findings, the PAC recommended that accounting officers ensure full compliance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act, while those found in breach of the legislation should face sanctions or surcharges.
The committee also called for accounting officers to take the necessary steps to recover outstanding payments and seek additional technical personnel through the Ministry of Public Service to strengthen oversight of projects and other financial operations.
Another concern raised in the report was the difficulty encountered in securing the attendance of former accounting officers who were invited to appear before the committee to answer questions about their stewardship.
Panday, in his contribution to the debate, emphasised the importance of the PAC fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, noting that the committee remained approximately five years behind in examining the country’s public accounts.
He said only 26 meetings had been held over the preceding five years, describing that level of activity as unacceptable and calling for more frequent meetings and longer sittings to accelerate the committee’s work.
He also noted that the decision to examine several years of accounts simultaneously should not result in less detailed scrutiny of the reports.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul said accounting officers must remain accountable for public funds regardless of political instructions they may receive. He noted that public officers should refuse any direction from a minister or other authority that would require them to act contrary to the country’s financial laws.
Mahipaul also called on the Minister of Finance to ensure that a Treasury Memorandum is prepared to outline the Government’s response to the PAC’s recommendations and the measures to be taken to address the deficiencies identified.
The PAC report, which was unanimously adopted by the National Assembly, will now be referred to the Government for consideration.
The committee is expected to turn its attention to the 2020 to 2024 Auditor General’s reports, which it has agreed to examine side by side as it seeks to bring parliamentary scrutiny of the country’s public accounts up to date.
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