-uncleared conference advances also a worry
Overpayments by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) for fuel from GuyOil in 2006 have been queried by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.
On Monday, members of the army’s accounting department were asked to explain how some $1.945M was overpaid to the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil) for seven purchase transactions in 2006, a practice which PNCR MP Winston Murray stated gives rise to discrepancies.
Within 2006, according to the Auditor General’s report for that year, which is now under consideration by the PAC, the army had utilized some seven payment vouchers issued by the Finance Ministry to effect purchases of fuel from GuyOil. Prior to the purchases, the army would seek quotations from the company for quantities of fuel, and after a period, make the purchase using the payment vouchers.
However, the petrol company would deliver fuel which cost less that the monies paid by the military, for instance on the 3rd March, 2006 the army purchased a quantity of fuel, making a payment of $3,220,000 against a sum of $1,922,880 stated on an invoice provided by GuyOil to the army sometime earlier. Here, a sum of $1,297,200 was overpaid to the petrol company.
The army in response to the query mentioned in the AG’s report, stated by way of letter dated January 21st this year, that the sum owed to the army had not been repaid to date and that this amount would be offset by fuel delivered to the agency by GuyOil. The army officers told the committee that the issue arose from fluctuating oil prices at the time, with Major Hussein of the GDF stating that refunds are made only when fuel prices have dropped.
Questioned by the committee as to whether there exists a contract between the two entities as regards the purchasing of fuel, Hussein stated that the GDF has approval from the authorities to purchase fuel exclusively from GuyOil, the arrangement being a monthly purchase cycle.
The army officers told the committee that the situation still exists and PPP/C parliamentarian Bibi Shadick questioned whether there has ever been a situation where the petrol company would deliver more fuel than would have been paid for, to which the officers answered in the negative.
Murray stated that the issue of GDF effecting purchases with quotations which are not current gives rise to discrepancies, as he questioned why the military would not check with the petrol company to have an update on the prices quoted on the quotations. He called for the system to be revisited and improved noting that the issue is a matter which needed to be addressed with some degree of urgency.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma told the committee on Monday that he had discussed the issue with the army’s accounting officers calling on them to keep adequate records. Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Neermal Rekha, told the committee that he would discuss the issue with the two entities so as to bring closure to it.
Another issue which engaged the attention of the committee on Monday was uncleared Conference Advances, which according to the 2006 Auditor General’s report remained unsettled long after they were granted. According to the report, at the time of the audit in March 2007, some 377 advances totalling $91.1M for years 2003-2005 remained uncleared. The report stated that during the period of the review according to the Conference Advances Register, amounts totaling $108.103M were expended on 287 overseas conferences and official visits of which 131 advances totalling $57.603M remained outstanding at the time of the reporting.
Murray told Ministry of Finance officials at the forum on Monday that the situation was unsatisfactory, as he questioned whether the monies expended went into the pockets of the officials who utilized the conference advances, noting that there is the distinct possibility of such inferences to be drawn.
He said that he was not satisfied with “public monies to be given to public officials”, who do not give any indication of how the sums were utilized.
Murray questioned whether the system remained the same and according to Rekha, “the situation has improved somewhat”. PAC chair Volda Lawrence called for an improvement of the situation as well as a report from the Finance Ministry on the issue.
