Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 11, 2022 News
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Home Affairs is still to recover $104,201 million in the overpayment of salaries and related deductions of $95,256 million for 2020, according to the 2021 Audit Office of Guyana report.
According to the report, efforts are being made to recover the overpayment of $204, 201million of new salaries and deductions. The overpayment for the period 2016 to 2019, the Ministry was able to recover $92,569 million of the net salaries and $96,677 million of the deductions and efforts are ongoing to recover the remaining sums overpaid.
Similarly, net salaries and deductions of $2.146 million and $1.521 million, respectively, are still to be recovered for the years 2016 to 2019. Under the Ministry of Health, the overpayment of salaries for 2021 amounted to approximately $22.88 million which was made to six former employees. Two persons have agreed to repay $9.01 million and four have been escalated to the Solicitor General for legal assistance to recover the sum of $13.87 million.
The AG report noted that Ministry is currently conducting research to engage other former employees in an effort to recover additional sums overpaid. The Ministry has also taken several actions to reduce/prevent instances of overpayment which include the assignment of a senior officer to initiate weekly contact with supervisors to ascertain staff attendance, and instructions to supervisors to report resignations and job abandonments via available technology to facilitate faster reporting and action.
In relation to the overpayment for the period 2015 to 2020, the Ministry has written to the Solicitor General for legal assistance to recover $3.6million of the $8.221million overpaid and research is on-going to facilitate recovery of the additional overpaid sums.
In 2020 report, the AG reported that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is yet to recoup millions of dollars overpaid to former ranks as well as funds remitted in their names to the National Insurance Scheme, (NIS) the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other agencies.
The ranks in question had resigned or were fired from the GPF. According to the AG report for the year 2020, the GPF which has for years been plagued with issues relating to the overpayment of salaries, is now looking to go after those ranks and other persons who were overpaid and have not returned the money.
The report noted too that some 176 officers who severed employment with the GPF for various reasons were paid on 14 instances totalling $1.308million. The AG Report also pointed to related deductions of $91,423, $84,498 and $164,298 which were also overpaid to GRA, NIS and other deduction agencies.
Similarly, for the years 2010 to 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2019 the Force is still to recover outstanding amounts totalling $12.396million, which were overpaid in salaries and deduction. These overpayments were as a result of directives to payroll changes not being forwarded in a timely manner to the Central Accounting Unit of the Force.
The Force reportedly explained that efforts are ongoing to recover the overpayments and committed to a policy that will see Divisional Branch Commanders being surcharged for their failing to inform the Central Accounting Unit of the Departure of staff. The Audit Office recommended that the Ministry continues its efforts to recover the overpaid sums and to ensure systems are put in place for payroll change directives to be forwarded in a timely manner to minimise overpayments.
Earlier this year, during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Committee examined the Auditor General’s 2016 findings on then Ministry of Public Security, which outlined that the GPF is still to recover some $2.264 million in overpaid salaries between 2010 and 2012.
Back then, the Audit Office had also recommended a number of measures designed at improving systems at the GPF, which would have helped with overpayments. But according to the Ministry, only 67 per cent of these recommendations were implemented as of 2016, with 33 per cent partially implemented.
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Apr 19, 2024
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