Opposition, Govt. at odds over PAC letter to int’l body

Nov 16, 2012 News

By Latoya Giles

Shadow Finance Minister for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Carl Greenidge, said yesterday that the government has taken offence to a letter which was sent to local, regional and international oversight bodies for Chartered Accountants, alleging the possible conflict of interest between the Finance Minister and his wife’s appointment at the Audit Office.
Speaking at the party’s weekly press conference, Greenidge disclosed that during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting on November 5, last, the Government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira complained about the inclusion of the name of the wife of Dr. Ashni Singh in a letter. The letter was sent by Greenidge, who is the Chairman of the PAC.
According to Greenidge, the letter requested guidance from the Guyana, Caribbean and international institutes, regarding their codes of ethics and possible conflict of interest arising from the appointment of Mrs. Singh to the post of Director in the Audit Office, given that her husband is the Minister of Finance. APNU cited, in particular, the material she would be required to audit directly or through colleagues pertain to agencies for which her husband has Ministerial and policy responsibility.
Greenidge emphasised that this represents a strong conflict of interest, given that Mrs. Singh operates at such a senior level. He said that apparently the PPP/C did not want the source of the conflict mentioned in the letter and had also claimed that there were several inaccuracies.
The Shadow Finance Minister added that it was clear that without specific names being provided to the oversight bodies, they are unlikely to be in a position to offer advice on this “very special and controversial case at a time when the Government is embroiled in accusations about corruption and there are calls for special audits for entities such as NICIL and AHI”.
He said that these entities have failed to account for billions of dollars which have been in their keeping.
“Mrs. Singh’s promotion to the number two position in the Office of the Auditor General was sought by the acting Auditor General, Mr.’ Deodat Sharma, and was facilitated by the unexpected and temporary PPP/C majority on the body, resulting from the sudden and unannounced absence of the AFC representative Mr. Trevor Williams, Greenidge stated.
He added that the decisions of the PAC are by tradition, based on a consensus among the parties, especially in the face of politically sensitive matters such as appointments where the parties need to have confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of the officers.
Greenidge said that the National Assembly can be expected to look at the matter in a few weeks’ time when a full report of the PAC deliberations, as well as the views of the Standing Order Committee, should be considered.
“In the interim, staff members have been appointed by the Auditor General, who has since been confirmed by the PPP regime,” he said, adding that “APNU continues to view with concern and to resist attempts by the PPP/C regime to make sweetheart appointments”.
“Where the PPP/C is not sure of loyalty or is concerned that officers might be too independent, it uses the device of having them acting interminably or kept to short contracts.”
Greenidge explained that this is “a means of keeping those officers in line, and the PPP/C is currently on a drive to protect itself from investigation of fraudulent behaviour and possible prosecution for corruption”. It was pointed out that Guyana is currently ranked as the most corrupt regime in the Caribbean and the second most corrupt in the entire Latin America and Caribbean region.

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Opposition, Govt. at odds over PAC letter to int’l body

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