That a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament was aborted yesterday over the presence of Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill shows how deeply ingrained the fallout from the July 18 capsizing of the MV Barima with the loss of at least 73 persons has become.
Naturally the opposition has sought to have its voice heard on this matter and to pressure the government to be inclusive in its decision making. The government has foolishly not paid heed to this and with all of the extra attention from the international community on Guyana as witnessed by the recent incisive piece by Bloomberg it will be exposed as disinclined to inclusiveness even at times of national crisis. It has composed the Commission of Inquiry into this horrific tragedy on its own and done the same thing with the terms of reference. In between, it appeared to want to force upon mourning families the acceptance of a permanent memorial of the MV Barima in the Atlantic even though the vessel may hold the remains of missing persons and constitutes crucial evidence for the inquiry. Thankfully, better sense has prevailed and the government is now moving to lift the vessel off the seabed which should be done with dispatch.
During the July 21st Parliamentary session the opposition created a spectacle by its insistence that Ministers Edghill and Deodat Indar should be removed from their positions on account of ministerial responsibility. It was a reasonable demand but one that was unlikely to be heeded by the government. So, hours of cacophony took over the business of the nation. No one could be heard above the din and one has to question whether the business of the session was properly conducted. The opposition made its point even if it was an ill-judged tactic to take it right through the session.
No one was expecting that this outlook would seep into the work of parliamentary committees and particularly that of the Public Accounts Committee which has been hopelessly backlogged and needs an agreement on how to bring the examination of the annual accounts up to date.
The imperative of the efficient functioning of this committee is even greater as the opposition, on good grounds, has accused the government of stymieing the work of the PAC in the 12th Parliament via a new quorum rule and even in this one considering the number of aborted attempts that were made before the first meeting of the PAC in the 13th Parliament was held.
Therefore, the last thing that one expected was that the opposition would cause the aborting of a PAC meeting which was what exactly happened yesterday. The meeting was quorate until APNU MP Ganesh Mahipaul got sight of Minister Edghill. He then demanded that Minister Edghill be excluded from the meeting, a demand that the Chairman quite properly noted was beyond his remit. At this point Mr Mahipaul and the other APNU MP Juretha Fernandes decamped from the meeting meaning it was no longer quorate. This was most unfortunate and ill-advised. While there is clearly more vigour in the ranks of the opposition in this Parliament compared to previous ones it is also clear that there are attempts at one-upmanship in its ranks to the detriment of crucial parliamentary business. The opposition had already made its point at the July 21st sitting. What could be accomplished now by undermining the PAC meeting? Nothing but a further excruciating delay in the work of the PAC. The opposition should certainly press for ministerial accountability from Messrs Edghill and Indar. The PAC is not the place for it. It is unclear whether Mr Mahipaul operated on the advice of his coalition’s parliamentary leader, Terrence Campbell. Whatever the circumstances, the opposition must not further destabilise the pressing need for the national accounts to be brought up to date. There are other fora for Minister Edghill to be held accountable for the capsizing of the MV Barima.
Discussion