Budgetary mismanagement in Region 6

Aug 11, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Regional Democratic Council of Region 6 debated and approved its Annual Estimate 2017 of $1.1 billion in just over an hour’s deliberation. This speedy deliberation can be solely attributed to the unpreparedness of the Regional Engineer who dismally failed to provide the RDC Councillors with any explanation of the criteria which he used to arrive at the figures he submitted for all the capital expenditures.
It must be borne in mind that this Annual Budget must ensure that the Region makes the best use of taxpayers’ dollars and to deliver better services to its residents. However, what transpired in the RDC Boardroom bears testimony to the fact that the budget planning process was improperly done. This process is the core mechanism in the preparation of the Annual Budget and the Engineer should have provided ample evidence to show that such planning was done.
Furthermore, budget planning and preparation should be at the heart of good public expenditure management which should involve the following processes:
– Control the expenditure to make sure that the items in the Budget are affordable;
– Allocate the scarce resources to reflect priorities;
– Ensure the efficient delivery of what is budgeted for;
– Minimizes the financial costs to deliver the items in the Budget.
Therefore, if the Engineer cannot justify the approximate costs of the capital works then it is highly impossible to control the expenditure. It therefore follows that the remaining steps will be difficult to achieve. Furthermore, it was apparent that the amounts budgeted are highly inflated which means that certain items which should have been in the Budget will be sacrificed.
It must be noted also that when the budget is approved by central government, the estimates will provide the basis for the Engineer’s estimate which can be inflated to ensure that the contractor who eventually gets the contract can afford a reasonable ‘something.’ This is where the opaqueness starts and then continues through the tender process and the eventual execution of the contracts. For instance, in the RDC 2017 Budget, the extension of the Amerindian Hostel at Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, was budgeted at $9 million but the Engineer could not say exactly what the extension will comprise to justify that amount.
However, it must be noted that the Regional Executive Officer is to oversee the planning and implementation of programmes and policies and that he derives his authority from the Financial Management and Accountability Act 2003. He also has the task of identifying and assigning clear responsibilities for coordinating the preparation of the budget submissions for the Region. Therefore, the REO is an integral part on the entire budget preparation and should have sought explanations as to the rationale for the items in the Budget. However, it must be recalled that the REO, Dr. Ramayya was on two weeks’ leave and therefore was absent at the crucial time when the Budgetary planning was being done but Region 6 has two Deputy REOs who should have required the Engineer to submit such explanations.
I am fully aware that the Engineer’s estimate will eventually provide the cost details of each capital project but this will be compromised since that estimate will invariably be in close approximation the figure presented in the Budget. So the burning question is: How come the Engineer cannot provide an explanation at the budget discussion?
In conclusion, the rationale or criteria for the estimates totaling more than $900 million or 79.7 % of the Region’s Budget 2017 cannot be provided which points at poor budgetary planning. The remarks columns in the Budget simply speaks about the number of beneficiaries and since the Engineer could not have provided some salient details then there could not have been a proper insight into the capital works. Figures by themselves say nothing!
I do hope that in the future those responsible for the preparation of the Region’s budget- the REO, the DREOs, the program Heads and the Engineer will provide more details on these capital works. It is time that the Region employs an independent engineer to advise on the costs of these capital works. Too much scarce resources are improperly spent in the Region.
Haseef Yusuf
Regional Councillor-Region 6

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