REOs who break regulations not acting in bad faith

REOs who break regulations not acting in bad faith – Harmon

Apr 03, 2018 News

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

Regional Executives Officers (REOs) continue to blunder before the ongoing Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which has found glaring cases where procurement rules and financial management laws are not being followed.
This has not escaped Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who was asked recently by journalists about the findings being uncovered by the PAC.
While not mentioning any REO by name, Harmon made reference to the situation involving Region Two’s Rupert Hopkinson whose administration is under investigation for utilizing funds approved for current expenditure and diverting it towards capital projects, which constitutes a breach.
“I don’t know there has been any bad faith in what the REO is probably thinking about doing. He felt that since he had a saving here he can apply there when in fact that is not the way the law functions,” Harmon stated.
He pointed out that some REOs go beyond the law because they interpret the law

Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan

in a certain way. Training conferences have been held with the REOs through the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Presidency and Ministry of Communities.
According to Harmon, the Ministry of Communities which has direct responsibility for the REOs has repeatedly emphasized the importance of staying within the boundaries of the law and the Public Procurement Act.
“We do recognize that there is need for training of the REOs and since we came into office we have had several training conferences. It is important that we empathize that it is important for all of Guyana that these REOs perform in a way in which they are trained and an in the way they are expected to perform,” Harmon noted.
The Minister of State took aim at the Public Accounts Committee, which is chaired by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament, Irfaan Ali. Harmon recalled that under the previous administration in which Ali was the Minister of Housing and at one time the Minister of Tourism, there were several violations.
He stated that if the PAC goes back four or five years it will find similar flaws.
“They were contracts for vehicles at the Ministry of Tourism; people did not know where these contracts went. The Permanent Secretaries were called to books about these things. It is not like these little aberrations which are now being reported at the Public Accounts Committee started in 2015,” Harmon noted.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News