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$254M “illegal” transfer to NICIL…APNU prepared for more Rohee-like sanctions against other MPs
A determined Opposition in the National Assembly has signaled its intentions to bring more sanctions against Members of Parliament (MPs) unless there is strict adherence to how public monies are being spent.
Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh
Shadow Finance Minister of A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), Carl Greenidge, also made it clear that the coalition is exploring options in changing a number of legislations to ensure the system of fiscal accountability is strengthened in Guyana.
Greenidge, himself a former Finance Minister under the PNC regime, was at the time referring to reports that Government may have recently “illegally” transferred $254M from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
The commission is charged with collecting taxes and royalties, as the regulatory body, from the mining and other natural resources industries. The monies are reportedly for the maintenance of interior roads.
APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC), which combined to have a one-seat majority in the National Assembly, insisted that they have no problems with monies being spent to repair interior roads.
Rather, it is transfer of the $254M that has them smarting.
NICIL is a state-owned private company which does not fall under the oversight of the National Assembly.
Both the government and the opposition have been battling over NICIL for a while now. Government says that NICIL is private and therefore its revenues do not have to be deposited to the Consolidated Fund, the central account where state revenues are placed.
However, the Opposition has been arguing that NICIL’s funds are state monies and therefore should fall under the oversight of the National Assembly.
NICIL, whose board is chaired by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh and include a number of Government Ministers, has been under the spotlight for a while now for the billions of dollars it controls.
There have been endless questions over how the monies are being spent but Government has refused to relinquish its control.
Government has since said that some US$20M ($4B) will be invested in the Marriott Hotel planned for Kingston, a project which also is under fire.
According to Joe Harmon, another senior APNU Parliamentarian, the $254M would have followed another transfer back in August for over $500M.
APNU’s MP, Carl Greenidge
According to Greenidge, APNU is not aware that NICIL has the mandate to build roads.
“I suppose the legislations setting up NICIL allow transfers to be made but there is supposed to be logic to such transfers. NICIL was originally established to receive the resources from privatized agencies. Now, it seems that NICIL is receiving resources from anywhere in the state to do what it likes.”
Greenidge was convinced that the ruling party deliberately wanted no public scrutiny.
“NICIL’s directors are the representatives of Government. The government in turn has to come to Parliament and be supervised. We don’t know whether tenders have been put out for the road works. We don’t know whether the monies are yielding the best returns. As a matter of fact, we won’t know. From what we see of NICIL so far, it is simply operating as a device to bypass Parliament.”
Greenidge admitted that while Parliament does not have a police force and its powers are limited, APNU is moving to make some legislative changes to force compliance.
“So when a Minister gets an instruction from the House not to do A, B, C and D, he will ignore these at his or her own peril. We have done it before. We will take actions and we are serious.”
Last week, an official of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which oversees GGMC, said that the monies are for interior roads and that the Cabinet of Ministers had authorized it.
It was not the first time that such transfers have been done, this publication was told.
The $254M transfer was revealed by AFC’s leader, Khemraj Ramjattan last week.
AFC’s Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan
According to Ramjattan, the monies should rightly go to the Consolidated Fund, where all revenues for the state are controlled.
“To place these monies elsewhere is a breach of financial regulations of the country. The government is fully aware of this.”
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