Govt.,Coalition guilty of hundreds of millions in overpayments

Dec 08, 2021 News

…also ‘failed to collect’ items paid for with tax dollars—AG Report Finds

Kaieteur News – The Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of Guyana taking stock of the Accounts of ministries, government departments and Regions for the fiscal year ended 31st December, 2020 will on Monday be made public.

The 2020 Auditor General Report was handed in September last, Pictured here from left: Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir, Auditor General Deodat Sharma and Public Accounts Committee, Chairman Jermaine Figueira

Monday will see the first sitting of the National Assembly since coming out of recess which began in August last. This publication has since learnt that on Monday when the report is made public, it is expected to document the overpayment by both the PPP/C and former APNU+AFC administrations during the course of that year to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Additionally, this publication has learnt that among the more pressing concerns raised by the Auditor General in his 2020 report is the fact that during the course of the year, several hundred million dollars had been spent on various items that had not been delivered to the audited agency, at the time of the audit.
Kaietuer News, speaking with a source close to the Audit Office, has since learnt that the problem of overpayments and non-delivery of items procured did not plague any single agency per se, but the inconsistencies could be found across the board.
The incumbent Peoples Progressive Part Civic (PPP/C) administration would have taken Office in August of last year, some five months after ousting the then coalition A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government at the March Elections—the five month delay in the swearing in is as a result of the recount of the elections results.
As such, the financial stewardship of both administrations will be up for review when the documents are made public.
Additionally, members of the House are also expected to be presented with copies of a Performance Audit Report on the COVID-19 Pandemic Assistance Voucher Programme; a Performance Audit Report on the procurement, storage and distribution of the COVID-19 supplies and a follow-Up Performance Audit Report of the Auditor General on a review of the Old Age Pension Programme in Guyana.
Additionally, the Members of the House and public at large are expected to be presented with
A number of annual reports for several organisations spanning several years, some even dated back to 2016.
Among the Annual Reports to be handed over are those for the Ombudsman Office and the Ethnic Relations Commission for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Reports by the Ministry of Public Works are also expected to be laid over in the House, including accounts for the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation for the years ended December 31, 2015 to 2017; the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the Berbice Bridge Company Inc. for the years ending December 31, 2019 and 2020, among others.
Auditor General, (AG) Deodat Sharma in September last, handed over the 2020 Audit Report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.

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