Public Accounts Committee to hold 2nd meeting today

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is scheduled to hold its second meeting of the 13th Parliament today at 10.30 am, after its planned July 27 meeting could not proceed because the National Assembly was sitting on that date.

PAC Chairman Vishnu Panday confirmed the new meeting date to Kiskadee Watch yesterday.

The committee had agreed at its inaugural meeting on July 13 to reconvene on July 27 to address several outstanding matters, including opposition proposals aimed at accelerating its examination of a six-year backlog of Auditor General’s reports.

That July 13 meeting lasted approximately three hours and was attended by all members, although government members Sanjeev Datadin and Gail Teixeira participated virtually.

“The meeting was very cordial. I was pleasantly surprised,” Panday had said afterward.

Among the matters expected to return to the agenda is an APNU proposal to merge the committee’s examination of the Auditor General’s reports for 2020, 2021 and 2022. Government members had requested additional time to consider the proposal.

APNU member Ganesh Mahipaul had also proposed that the committee meet weekly. No fixed schedule was adopted, but members agreed that the date of each subsequent meeting would be determined at the end of the preceding sitting.

The committee is also expected to consider an opposition proposal to begin the statutory process for reconstituting the Public Procurement Commission by advertising for suitably qualified applicants.

Members had further agreed to continue examining the outstanding paragraphs in the 2019 Auditor General’s Report.

The July 13 sitting was the PAC’s first successful meeting after five consecutive attempts failed because government members had not confirmed their attendance, preventing the committee from attaining the quorum required under the Standing Orders.

Panday, who was elected chairman in June, has repeatedly expressed concern over the backlog, noting that the committee is approximately six years behind in examining the Auditor General’s reports.