Unaccounted $8,000 million…Money used for additional staff and promotions – Ashni Singh

Dec 09, 2013 News

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..his explanation has more holes than a cast net, Ramjattan

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, responding to an article by the Kaieteur News, which said that he failed to account for just about $8000M over the past five years, has offered an explanation that AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan says “has more holes than a cast-net.”

According to Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, who debunked the Finance Minister’s response, this does not hold water when one looks at the actual estimates of the Budget for the revision of wages and salaries.
It defies logic, fact, and the norms of the budgetary process, and even common sense, he added.
Dr Singh in his explanation of the unaccounted monies in the budget over the years sought to argue that   as a matter of policy, and of practical necessity, the National Budget only provides allocations to meet the cost of posts filled in budget agencies at the time the National Budget is finalised.
He said that should a budget agency promote or recruit new staff, increase salaries or otherwise adjust salaries during the course of a year, that budget agency must revise its budgeted allocation to meet its shortfall.
According to Dr Singh, “The shortfall is met by what is described as an inter-departmental warrant of funds provided by the Ministry of Finance from the revision of wages and salaries allocation to the agency where the shortfall has arisen.
“This treatment of financial allocations for positions that are unfilled at the time of preparation of the national estimates or other employment cost shortfall is long established and honoured by time.”
Ramjattan sees the explanation as leaking more than a cast net and defies logic.
He said that even a cursory examination of the Annual Estimates Approved by the National Assembly, would expose the Finance Minister.
According to Ramjattan, the staffing details in respect of each budget agency is illustrated in the budget and represented under line items.
“The Minister proposes and Parliament has approved for each of those agencies and programmes,” Ramjattan said.
He used as example, the staffing details for Office of the President which is represented at page 29 of the National Estimates, and points to a 5.8 per cent increase in staff.
According to Ramjattan, an analysis of the voted provisions for the revision of wages and salaries point to a 21.3 per cent increase in employment cost.
He said, too, that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Administration, which is represented on page 122 and 123 of the Estimates, shows that the staffing strength went up from 10 to 14, a 40 per cent increase.
“When one looked at the voted provision for this increase of four staffers one saw an 80 per cent increase in wages and salaries. There was a line item captioned Total Wages and Salaries. It shows wages and salaries moving from $22 M to $40M.
The AFC leader noted, also, that for Region Three, there is  just a five per cent increase in staffing strength while the voted provisions represent a 10 per cent increase in employment cost under Total wages and Salaries.
Ramjattan said that perhaps most glaring, is over at the Ministry of Social Services and Social Security, Agency 48, Programme 482.
According to Ramjattan, the staffing strength at that agency went down from 352 staffers to 285 staffers, a decline of 20 per cent, but under the monies voted for under Total Wages and Salaries, there is a 15 per cent increase from $291 M to $336M. There were 67 less staffers; but employment costs shot up by $45M!
“So we have made the adjustments for increased staffing and consequential increases Wages and Salaries as a result of these staffing, at the time of passing of Budget.
“The line item dealing with Revised Wages and Salaries is a wholly different thing. This line item for 2013 was $4,4B for a 15 per cent increase for all the employment costs of all staffers for all Agencies and Ministries which we would have taken in the projected increase of staffers for 2013! We would have already by March 2013 determined how many staffers there will be in all Agencies and Ministries.
“It could never be that from March 2013 to December 2013 there could be so many more staffers contracted or so many promoted to offset approximately $2,2M. Utter nonsense! This is a huge scam that has been stumbled upon here.”
Ramjattan said that he has every reason to believe that this situation is reflected across each of the Government agencies for which monies would have been voted for in the yearly estimates.
The AFC Leader charged that the budgetary allocations for Revision of Wages and Salaries for public servants are now being regarded as a slush fund given that over the past five years there is more than $8B unaccounted for.
According to Ramjattan the amount budgeted for Revised Wages and Salaries for 2013 represents an almost 15 per cent increase for public servants and not the five per cent that is being touted by Government.
“This is a deception being perpetrated by the Ministry and is wholly wrong this does not accord with the norms of the budgetary process at all.”
He said that according to the party’s calculations at this stage it is proving that for the past several years there has been a huge difference between what was allocated for revised wages and salaries and what was actually paid out.”
“A substantial amount is definitely not accounted for,” said Ramjattan.
The AFC will certainly be asking questions in Parliament “now that our confidence has waned so terribly as a result of this development…
“We are now appreciating why the President does not want to assent to that amendment to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, namely section 85, which expands “official” to mean the Minister.”
Under this amendment the Opposition is looking to expand the category of government officials that can be held accountable for the misuse of public funds.
“He (Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh) is the one who ought to be made culpable for any delinquencies on this score, rather than the other officials there.

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