‘Value-for-money’ audit report presented to Speaker Ramkarran

Dec 01, 2009 News

The first ever ‘value-for-money’ audit report was yesterday presented to the speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran by acting Auditor General, Deodat Sharma.
The report is based on an assessment of the living conditions of the residents of the Palms Geriatric Institution, which was undertaken as a pilot audit.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran (left) receives the report from Acting Auditor General, Deodat Sharma.

Speaking to the media yesterday in Parliament Building, Sharma said that he cannot disclose the findings of the report until it is ventilated in the National Assembly. However, he did disclose that an assessment was done on the way the residents in the Palms live, the kind of food they eat and adequacy of staffing at the facility.
According to Sharma, a number of recommendations were also made in the report.
In his comments to the media, Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran said the report is a major step in transparency and accountability in Guyana. “I’m proud that the National Assembly of Guyana is associated with this event.”
The Auditor General is expected to also issue two other Value For Money reports on Old Age Pension and the Procurement Process in the year 2010.
Meanwhile, Sharma added that the Audit Act of Guyana, which was passed in the National Assembly in 2004, allows the Auditor General to examine and report on the extent to which a public entity is applying its resources and carrying out its activities economically, efficiently and effectively.
“The Auditor General can therefore examine how well the Government manages its affairs, and report the results of this examination to the National Assembly,” Sharma said.
Since a ‘Value For Money’ audit is a systematic, purposeful, organised and objective examination of government activities, the Auditor General is able to provide the Legislature and other stakeholders with an assessment on the performance of these activities, including information, observations and recommendations designed to promote answerable, ethical and effective public service, good governance, sustainable development and encourage accountability and best practices.
“Its scope includes the examination of economy, efficiency, cost effectiveness of government activities, procedures to measure effectiveness, accountability relationships, protection of public assets, and compliance with authorities.”
He added that through the auspices of the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation (CCAF), six officers were trained via the Foundation’s nine-month Fellowship Programme, which included an attachment to the Federal Audit.