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PAC recommends sacking all compromised accounting and engineering officers
PAC Chairman, Irfaan Ali
The overall challenges that faced the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during its review of the Auditor General’s reports for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 all point to one thing—the financial system is awash with dishonest accounting and engineering officers. They need to be removed.
The PAC made this and other statements in its latest report which was recently handed over to the National Assembly by Chairman and Opposition Member, Irfaan Ali.
In its report, the PAC said that accounting officers and engineering staff appear to persistently sign off on incomplete projects. It noted that this is not a matter that affects one budget agency but all.
It noted that accounting officers were not implementing measures to avoid the recurrence of overpayment in its entirety.
The issue of overpayment was even cited by Auditor General Deodat Sharma in his latest report. He viewed it is a matter of “grave concern.”
In his 2016 report, the Auditor General said that overpayments amounting to $82.658M were made on measured works on ninety-eight contracts administered by Ministries, Departments and Regions in 2016, of which sums totalling $65.076M and $17.582M were in relation to Regions and Ministries/Departments, respectively.
Sharma said that included in the sum of $65.076M were overpayments amounting to $45.265M or approximately sixty-nine percent in Regions One, Eight and Nine. Included in the sum of $17.582M overpaid on contracts in Ministries/Departments were amounts totalling $11.989M and $3.467M or approximately 68 and 19 percent for the Ministries of Public Security and Public Infrastructure, respectively.
Auditor General, Deodat Sharma
(Further details about overpayments as noted by the Auditor General can be seen by following this link: http://www.audit.org.gy/pubs/AnnualReport2016v1.pdf.)
Additionally, the PAC found that performance bonds and insurance were seldom utilized as surety by the Government agencies against substandard and incomplete work done by contractors. Accounting officers were also found to be continually having stale-dated cheques in their possessions.
Overall, the PAC was disappointed that accounting officers were not adhering to the recommendations by the Committee to address repetitive challenges.
Furthermore, the Committee believes that the culture where certain officials believe that it is simply acceptable to engage in unbecoming financial practices must come to an end.
PAC Chairman Ali has said that it is disheartening to examine the Auditor General’s report, which shows the same financial transgressions are being repeated year after year.
To bring an end to this behaviour, he and his fellow committee members have since put forward a number of recommendations. Among them, the PAC is calling for the Finance Secretary to be empowered to surcharge defaulting accounting officers.
It is also suggesting that Accounting officers and/or engineering staff that knowingly wait until the end of December to sign off on incomplete projects, be removed from the system.
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