Govt. tables 2016 Treasury Memorandum in keeping with statutory requirement

Apr 26, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Finance’s Treasury Memorandum pursuant to the Auditor General’s 2016 report was tabled in the National Assembly on Monday by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira.

The tabling of the Treasury Memorandum is in keeping with the Resolution No.46/2022 dated November 30, 2022, on the Public Accounts of Guyana for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The Treasury Memorandum outlines the Government’s recommendations that are to be implemented to resolve the issues which arose at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the year 2016.

Following accusations that the government has been stymieing the progress of correcting the discrepancies highlighted in the 2016 Audit Report and subsequent PAC deliberations by failing to lay over the Treasury Memorandum to the Parliament, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo clarified that Government, in keeping with the statutory requirements had already submitted the document for the year 2016 to the Clerk of the National Assembly for it be tabled.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira

The Vice President (VP) also clarified that government is not delinquent in complying with the process meant to correct the financial irregularities highlighted in the Auditor General reports.

His comments came on the heels of an accusation made by Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Jermaine Figueira.

Figueira accused the Government of dragging its feet on implementing measures to correct the repeated skullduggery perpetrated at the level of State agencies.

He claimed that this is owing to the government’s failure to adhere to the Parliamentary Standing Orders which stipulates that recommendations to help address those irregularities are to be made via a Treasury Memorandum which has to be laid in the Parliament by the Minister of Finance.

The Treasury Memorandum contains recommendations for accounting officers to address the repeated financial and managerial anomalies that were identified by the Auditor General.

In response VP Jagdeo said that the Treasury Memorandum pursuant to resolution No. 46/2022 dated November 30, 2022 on the public accounts of Guyana for the year ending 31^st December 2016 was submitted on February 24, 2023.

According to Jagdeo, the Government is now waiting on the PAC Chair to move a Motion in Parliament so that the next memorandum can be laid over to the House.

Jagdeo said: “The fact of the matter is that only the 2016 has so far been adopted by the National Assembly. After a resolution [is] passed…. The Minister of Finance within 90 days has to submit his Treasury Memorandum. This was done and the Minister has submitted his Treasury Memorandum on 24 February 2023.”

He continued: “So the 2017 and 2018 reports…It is Mr. Figueira now needs to go to the [National] Assembly and move a Motion and the Motion have to be debated and only when the debate is concluded then the Clerk can issue the resolution and thereafter the Minister of Finance has 90 days to submit the treasury memorandum. So the Minister of Finance cannot submit a memorandum now, if the PAC Chair has not done his part.”

Meanwhile, in response to the explanation proffered by Jagdeo, A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament (MP), Ganesh Mahipaul said that the Opposition members cannot be blamed for raising the allegation against the government.

“We have had no parliament for the longest while so if it is submitted to the Clerk to be placed on the Order Paper but not laid or circulated to MPs, there is no way of us knowing this,” he said.

Mahipaul had previously called out the government for flouting the Parliamentary Standing Orders to help address the irregularities highlighted by the Auditor General’s report.

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Gail Teixeira, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, requirement, statutory, Treasury Memorandum

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