Follow rules or face sanctions!

Feb 28, 2017 News

-Finance Secretary warns regional officials

Finance Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Dr. Hector Butts, yesterday urged Regional officials to

Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and PAC Advisor, Dr. Hector Butts.

follow the rules and regulations to prevent fraud, embezzlement and misuse of public funds, or face sanctions.
Dr. Butts appeared as one of the three advisors to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during a special meeting convened to address the irregularities highlighted in the Auditor General’s 2015 Report.
He said that if explanations given by those responsible were not forthcoming or understood, then decisions will have to be taken to “streamline our thinking, or bring heads of agencies or parties in line with what is expected.”
“We will have to tighten our belts here because we will have to be looking at how we deal with excess breaches here, especially in terms of looking at possibilities of sanctions, if necessary.”
Dr. Butts reminded that misuse of funds by public officials could result in fines of up to $2M and imprisonment for as many as three years – if found guilty by a Court of Law.
His statement would come against the backdrop of numerous reports accusing regional officials in the past of being involved in corrupt practices including that of embezzlement,

Regional officials, PAC members and the Communities Ministry’s Technical Team during the meeting yesterday.

fraud and misuse of public funds.
Dr. Butts’s assertions yesterday also caused a few heads to turn.
Amongst the attendees, were the Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan; Permanent Secretary (PS), Emile McGarrell; Members of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC); and the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma.
Sharma, during his presentation, highlighted some of the irregularities in the report, forwarded some recommendations which he opined will aid officials in effectively fulfilling their mandates.
He spoke about the appropriation lapses where at the end of the year, funds are rolled over rather than being transferred to the appropriate fund.
Sharma also urged that payments only be made for “complete works.”
He added also that in some regions, contractors are being paid a mobilization fee that is more than what is stipulated in the standard bidding document.
This observation was endorsed by members of the PAC.
Permanent Secretary McGarrell, noted during his presentation, that the highlighted issues were observed and steps are being made to address them.
The Regional Consultative Committee meeting was convened, he added, to aid in this process.
He added, for example, that the Regional Accounting Unit stands at 14 percent of its needed staffing strength and many other vacancies, he added exist at critical levels.
PAC Chairman, Opposition Parliamentarian, Irfaan Ali, urged officials to not get involved in politics but to “leave that to the councillors.”
Ali did urge the officials to stick to the technical work that they were mandated to undertake.

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