Latest update October 11th, 2026 10:40 AM
Ram questions $89.9B housing spending
…says Mid-Year Report lacks accountability
(Kaieteur News) – Chartered accountant Christopher Ram has raised fresh concerns over the Government’s reporting of nearly $90 billion spent on the housing sector during the first half of 2026, arguing that the Mid-Year Report fails to clearly show where the money went.
Ram, in a column examining the 2026 Mid-Year Report, said the document reports that $89.9 billion of the $159.1 billion allocated to the housing sector was spent during the first six months of the year to “expand affordable housing for citizens.”
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram
However, he said that description is too broad because the housing programme includes infrastructure, community facilities, industrial areas, Silica City and other major projects. According to Ram, the report does not provide a sufficient breakdown to show how much of the $89.9 billion was actually spent on houses and house lots, how much went towards roads, drains and street lighting, and how much was directed to longer-term developments such as Silica City.
“The problem is not a shortage of numbers,” Ram argued. Rather, he said the figures presented by Government are not adequately reconciled or explained, making it difficult for Parliament and the public to determine what the expenditure actually purchased.
He pointed to a range of statistics in the report, including lots allocated, titles distributed, houses constructed, developments completed or underway, street lamps installed, subsidies provided, applications processed and recreational and industrial areas under development. But Ram said the sheer volume of statistics should not be confused with accountability.
He argued that the report should provide expenditure by programme and project, the cost of completed works, spending to date on unfinished projects, physical progress against expenditure, and significant variations from the approved budget. Ram said these omissions go beyond presentation issues because they limit public scrutiny of spending on a massive scale.
Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh
He also placed responsibility for the quality of the reporting on Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh. While acknowledging that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) is responsible for implementing housing programmes, Ram argued that Singh presents both the annual Budget and the Mid-Year Report and therefore bears responsibility for ensuring that public expenditure is clearly reported.
The chartered accountant also questioned what he described as an institutional inconsistency surrounding the finance portfolio. Singh’s formal title is Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance. At the same time, the 2026 National Estimates identify “Agency 03 – Ministry of Finance” and list Singh as the minister responsible for the agency. The Government also continues to operate a Ministry of Finance and publish its budget documents under that name.
Ram said this creates uncertainty over the institutional structure of the finance portfolio, particularly with finance being retained within the Office of the President while a Ministry of Finance continues to operate administratively. He said whatever the explanation for the arrangement, accountability should not be similarly unclear. “The country receives a clear, coherent and intelligible account of how its money is being spent,” Ram contended. His latest criticism follows a September 17 publication in which he questioned the CHPA’s financial and performance reporting, including inconsistencies surrounding housing infrastructure projects.
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