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Forensic audits the right way to go – British envoy
– Will improve faith of foreign investors in Guyana
By Kiana Wilburg
The Government’s initiation of forensic audits into almost 30 state agencies, national projects and funds has caught the attention of the diplomatic community.
British High Commissioner, Gregory Quinn
In fact, British High Commissioner, James Gregory Quinn praised the new administration for undertaking the audits as he opined that it is certainly, “the right way to go.”
At the swearing in of APNU+AFC elected Members of Parliament on June 10, last, Quinn, who was an invited guest to the auspicious occasion, told Kaieteur News of the importance of governments demonstrating fiscal accountability and transparency.
“I think it is perfectly legitimate for an incoming government to examine what the previous government has done. So I have no problem with A Partnership for National Unity plus the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) examining the actions of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). They are doing it in the right way, they are doing the forensic audits, and that is perfectly right. That is the right direction to go too.”
Quinn asserted that the forensic audits being pursued by the government are not only going to help to lend much more credence to the viability of the Guyanese economy but also attract more foreign investors.
“The new government has been talking for months about having an economy and a system which is transparent, free, fair, open, and without money laundering.
And that is an economy investors feel encouraged to come wholeheartedly and invest in. So the move to have forensic audits in certain areas is going to help improve faith and confidence of foreign investors in Guyana.”
Whether the results of the forensic audits will improve or harm Guyana’s image on the international stage was a subject, the British Ambassador preferred not to comment on.
The envoy said that the launch of the forensic audits sends a very clear signal of the kind of investment climate the new government wants, and that, he believes, will be attractive to international investors.
The Ambassador told Kaieteur News that the move is one which signals the government’s intentions to also do right by the people.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, has been placed in charge of organizing the teams to conduct the forensic audits. Already part of the team is Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. The services of Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram have also been retained.
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan had said that Government will be going after the “big fish” which have been listed among the first batch of agencies to be audited. These include the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The audits are being conducted to determine how the assets of the state were sold, disposed of or transferred under the previous administration.
The Junior Finance Minister had said that funding is also expected from the international donor community which has expressed a keen interest in seeing Guyana improve on transparency and accountability.
Additionally, when asked to name other agencies and projects that have been identified to be audited first Sharma had said, “I don’t want to say at this time. We have to be very careful with this. NICIL is an obvious big fish we will go after, but I would not want to list the rest. We don’t want a reoccurrence of what took place at the Ministry of Communities where there was an arson attempt.”
The APNU+AFC government will not be leaning on the country’s audit office for any help.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma had disclosed that the Ministry of Finance has chosen to do independent audits.
“They will not be using our services. They want to do it independently. I guess they want to show that it is going to be more credible that way. It is not like the Audit Act restricts them to using us.”`
While there have been several contentions over GGMC funds, the Finance Minister made it clear that everything will be done to ensure that all monies flow to the right place—The Consolidated Fund. He had also conducted preliminary discussions with NICIL’s Head Winston Brassington and GRA Commissioner General, Khurshid Sattaur on the said audits.
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