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PAC mandates Finance Ministry to submit list of outstanding advances
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday last mandated the Ministry of Finance to present to it by February 15, a breakdown of how many officials, and belonging to which ministry, still have to clear their conference advances.
Winston Murray
The PAC was at the time scrutinizing the expenditures of the Finance Ministry when it was pointed out that on a yearly basis there are several advances made to officials for overseas trips but it is never attested to on the Ministry’s books upon their return.
Shadow Finance Minister Winston Murray said that in the interest of transparency and accountability this should be done because it is taxpayers’ dollars that are handed over to the public officials without any account of what happens to it.
He questioned also why it is that the Ministry does not clear old advances before issuing new ones to the officials to travel again.
This, he said, must be done in order to ensure transparency, and questioned what happens to the money, “has it gone into their pockets?”
Murray was adamant that while this could very well not be the case until the accounts are straightened out then that inference could fairly be drawn.
”This is public money given to public officials to go overseas,” Murray reiterated.
According to the 2006 Auditor General report, “Conference advances continued to be uncleared long after they have been granted.”
It was pointed out that at the time of that audit, in March 2007, 377 advances totalling $91.1M for the years 2003 to 2005 remained uncleared.
During the period under review, namely 2006, according to the Conference Advances Register, amounts totalling $180.103M were expended on the cost of 287 overseas conferences and official visits of which 131 advances totalling $57.603M remained outstanding at the time of
reporting.
The following year’s report stated that the Conference Advances Register revealed that for 2007 there were 138 advances totalling $51.239M, which were still to be cleared.
This was compounded by the fact that 195 advances totalling $64.973M for the years 2004 to 2006 are still to be cleared.
The ministry at that time had stated that while some of the recipients were tardy in clearing their advances, others had submitted documentation to clear their advances, but due to the Department’s staffing situation, there were delays.
It was further stated that the delinquent officers were written to, requesting them to submit documentation to clear their advances.
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