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Auditor General doing real-time monitoring of distribution of cash grants
– hands over 2021 Audit, performance reports to Speaker
Kaieteur News – Auditor General, Deodat Sharma said that his office has started to provide real-time monitoring of Government‘s expenditure on the series of cash grants being distributed to the public.
At left: Auditor General, Deodat Sharma hands over the 2021 Auditor General Report and five other performance reports to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir in the presence of Parliamentary staff and Members of Parliament
Sharma made this disclosure at the handing over ceremony of the 2021 Auditor General Report and five other performance reports which were officially presented to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir on Monday.
He told reporters “Our teams of auditors were engaged in real-time audits where we were able to ensure the objective of the activity was achieved, beneficiaries received their grant without prejudice of any minor post review documentation issues.”
While the Auditor General assured there is no better audit evidence than first hand witness, he noted that the task comes with its own challenges as it is very tedious and time consuming. “The Audit Office has to send staff on the road and we are still in the COVID period, so those are some of the challenges,” he added
Sharma revealed too that the full audit of the various cash grants is currently ongoing. “ So we are doing real-time monitoring to ensure that things go how they are supposed but we are also working on the full audit of the cash grant distribution which once completed, the reports will be handed over to the Parliament Office,” Sharma added.
The Auditor General had previously promised that his office will launch real-time audit into the countrywide cash grant giveaways. the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has issued a series of cash grants since 2o20, these include $25,000 COVID-19 cash grant, the $25,000 one-off cash grant to public servants, the $25,000 ‘Because We Care’ education cash grant, the $250,000 cash grant paid to fisherfolk and the $100,000 cash grant issued to children with disabilities.
In meantime, the Auditor General presented his 2021 Report as well as five performance audit reports including the Management of Medical Waste at hospitals, Management of Drugs and Medical Supplies at the Ministry of Health and Regional Health Facilities, Receipt, Storage and Distribution of Textbooks to Schools, Review of Training Programmes established and developed by the Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and Guyana’s Preparedness for Marine Oil Spill Response.
Briefly revealing the findings of the Auditor General Report 2021, Sharma told the gathering of auditors, Parliamentary staff, Members of Parliament and the Public Accounts Committee that he is very pleased with reduction in overpayments to contractors.
“In fact, a lot of overpayments on projects that were discovered, they actually were refunded before I issued my report,” the Auditor General told reporters, as he applauded the work of the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Education in adhering to his recommendations.
He said that the Government Ministries and departments cooperated with his office, and in doing so provided better responses when queries were made.
Nadir lauded the Audit Office and staff for their efforts in having the reports delivered in a timely manner. “We have now five performance audits, which can be used for all of the accounting units to look at their own system and we don’t have to wait until we get the Auditor General coming to tell us that we can have greater efficiency. But if we look at what is presented now and the observations made, we can start doing better with the money,” the Speaker said. The reports will be made public when the National Assembly reconvenes.
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