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Teixeira says coalition committed over 500 breaches of financial rules while in office
Kaieteur News – While in Government, the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition made over 500 breaches of the financial regulations. This is summed up in Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma’s Reports for the years 2015-2018.
Auditor General: Deodat Sharma.
Those reports are currently under review by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC). During a recent presentation in National Assembly, Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira spoke of the breaches to laws identified in the AG‘s report.
According to Teixeira, the APNU+AFC is liable for over 500 breaches to laws such as the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA); the Procurement Act and the Stores Regulations of 1993. She said, “If we look at the FMA Act, the Auditor General points out that there were 21 breaches in 2015… in 2016; 82, in 2017; 40, in 2018; 71… You get the gist? Procurement Act breaches, 18 in 2015, 21 in 2016, 27 in 2017, 28 in 2018. Breaches of the Stores regulations, it has gone up from 53, 60, 34, 57.”
“These are the summations of the Auditor General’s reports of what they found, the breaches. And certainly, it’s important for us to be able to try to correct these things. And it’s the seriousness with which we take these things, the Treasury Memorandum was circulated on the floor today,” Teixeira said.
She was at the time addressing concerns about the decision to change the quorum of the PAC. The quorum for a PAC meeting was amended from having three members present, irrespective of party affiliation– to having two members from the government side or opposition side present as well as the Chairman present before the meeting convenes.
Teixeira had defended to the move. According to her, the new formula will enhance the efforts of the PAC and help it to function effectively.
“In the PAC, the government expenditures and opposition expenditures are under scrutiny… This motion is an attempt for there to be adequate participation from both sides and so that no side could have a runaway train…”
“This is not first time that the standing orders have been amended… but some of us don’t have institutional memory… So I find the comments about stymieing the PAC very disturbing. I wish to assure the Opposition that the quorum is to make sure everyone is able to do their part,” she said.
Teixeira’s motion was supported by MPs from the Government including Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill who noted that under the previous three member quorum, the opposition was able to go ahead with the affairs of the PAC without Government members present. He noted that at present, the PAC is reviewing the audits from the period when the APNU+AFC were in power. “That period showed rampant corruption and the opposition would love to fast track the process without having us present,” he said.
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