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Prominent engineer supports PAC’s “value for money” audits
- Questions why former Gov’t didn’t do any
Engineer Charles Ceres
Renowned Guyanese Engineer, Charles Ceres believes that the “Value for Money” audits that have been ordered by the Opposition-led Public Accounts Committee (PAC) can be used as a tool to improve and scrutinize more than just drug procurement practices and shortages across the country.
Ceres believes that if executed properly, such audits can help Guyana fight against substandard infrastructural works that continue to plague the country, and burden taxpayers.
“I am glad that they have looked in that direction. I fully support it,” Ceres declared.
The Proprietor of Ceres Ground Structures Engineering Consultants believes that those very audits should be launched to determine how much “value for money” Guyanese were, and are currently getting from some of the “glaringly flawed” multimillion, and in some cases, multibillion-dollar projects that are delivered to them.
“It might very well put an end to all of this regurgitation that you keep seeing, with roads not being done properly, bridges falling apart and so on. If the audits are done properly, and as they should be, then you wouldn’t have taxpayers paying for the same set of works over and over again,” Ceres said.
A Value for Money Audit is an independent, evidence-based investigation, which examines and reports on whether economy, effectiveness and efficiency has been achieved in the use of public funds.
Only recently, Chairman of the PAC, Irfaan Ali vowed that the body will be applying greater scrutiny of government institutions and their spending.
The PPP/Civic Executive had maintained that the need for this cannot be underestimated, especially when one looks at the manner in which some ministries and other State institutions are managing their expenditure.
While the Opposition-led PAC is looking at such an audit as a means of eliminating skulduggery, Ceres is questioning why it wasn’t done under the former administration, which has been plagued with accusations of corruption and misappropriation of state resources.
“The absence of such audits in the past is an indication that they (the PPP/C) didn’t want it…perhaps they are aware of what they used to do,” Ceres reasoned.
The veteran Engineer exclaimed though, “not because they didn’t do it means it must not be done.”
The “value for money” audit that is now being ordered, deals specifically with the procurement of drugs and pharmaceuticals by the Ministry of Public Health, which is headed by Volda Lawrence.
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