No procurement plan for 2018 submitted by constitutional agencies

Nov 18, 2017 News

…$8B in spending approved
Constitutional agencies did not submit procurement plans for projects that they plan to execute in 2018. Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, has put forward this as one explanation for the cuts in their budget request.

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

The House of Assembly last evening approved an $8B budget for 2018 across the agencies, representing a reduction of some $2.2 billion. The agencies requested $10.2 billion.
Commenting on the cuts, Minister Jordan noted that the allocations take into account the economic outlook for 2018 for revenue, expenditure and growth in the economy, challenges in implementation encountered in 2017 and annualisation of salaries.
The Minister further noted that the 2018 budget submission did not fulfill the requirements of the 2018 budget circular as no procurement plan was submitted for budget 2018 for the agencies.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) received the largest allotment of $2.9 billion; it requested $3.7 billion.
The Supreme Court which has plans to construct a new Magistrates’ Court at Grove, East Bank Demerara, and an extension of the Court of Appeal building in Kingston, Georgetown, was approved for nearly $1.9 billion. According to the Supreme Court’s work plan, the extension is to accommodate the increase in the complement of Court of Appeal Judges.
There are also plans to construct a Court building at Kamarang in Region Seven, the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region. This will alleviate the problem of court sessions being held at the Kamarang Nursery School after school is dismissed.
The Supreme Court had requested a budget allocation of $2.7B.
Some $1.5B was approved for the Parliament Office which includes capital expenditure of $96 million and current expenditure of $1.4 billion. The Parliament Office had submitted a budget request of $1.7 billion.
Office of the Attorney General was approved for $783 million. The Public and Police Service Commission will received $95 million; the Teaching Service Commission, $125 million; Public Prosecutions, $174 million; Office of the Ombudsman, $58 million; Public Service Appellate Tribunal, $52 million; Ethnic Relations Commission, $86 million; Judicial Service Commission, $10 million; Indigenous People’s Commission, $26 million; Human Rights Commission, $31 million; Rights of the Child Commission, $43 million; Women and Gender Equality Commission, $43 million; Public Procurement Commission, $178 million.
The Opposition, People’s Progressive Part/Civic (PPP/C) challenged the Minister of Finance on most of the reduced allocations presented to the House for approval. The Coalition Government with its majority ensured the estimates were approved.
Minister Jordan will present the estimates for the remainder of the 2018 budget expenditure to the House of Assembly on Monday, November 27.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News