The accounting officers of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were on Monday taken to task by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over delayed payments to pensioners, as a result of a year-old robbery at the Finance Office at Eve Leary.
Some 301 persons, most of whom are pensioners, have been affected by the situation. When they appeared before the PAC, which is reviewing the 2009 Auditor Genera’s report, the GPF’s accounting officers were scolded for not doing enough in order to have the monies paid out to the pensioners.
The Auditor General had noted that GPF had suffered a loss of cash from its Finance Office, Eve Leary in the sum of $3.547M, in January last year. The report added that “the loss occurred when a person or persons unknown accessed a strongbox within the cashier cage, designated “Cashier 3” at the Finance Office and removed some components of payrolls kept in the strong box.
Superintendent Semple, who appeared on behalf of the force, said that while efforts would have been made to effect the payments, not much was being done. He said that to date, no one was held accountable but added that the issue was being dealt with by the force.
PAC Chairperson Volda Lawrence stated that the accounting officers needed to seek advice on the issue and she recommended that they consult with the Accountant General’s Department of the Finance Ministry.
It was also noted that the procedures undertaken within the accounting unit of the force needed to be revisited, after a sum of $982,000 went missing from the La Penitence Police Station in 2009. The police force said that a sum of $867,000 was reclaimed at restitution.
Semple explained that the amount represented bail accounts which were at the police station at the time and he noted that a number of procedures needed to be completed in order to reclaim the additional sum. He added that the officer held culpable—a sergeant—was reduced in rank.
PPP/C MP Bibi Shadick noted that the procedure used by the police force for having liquid cash, which represented bail amounts, at police stations for several days needed to be revisited. Finance Secretary Nermal Rekha also noted that the Finance Ministry had strongly advised public sector agencies against holding liquid cash.
The police officers were given until April 15 to update the PAC on the status of the various missing sums of monies and what measures were put in place to reclaim same as well as to repay those affected.
Meanwhile, officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs were also in the hot seat in relation to the overpayment to a contractor who had undertaken rehabilitative works to the Yarakita Police Station in Region One, in 2009.
According to the Auditor General’s report, a verification of the works revealed that the quantities for items under the contract were over-measured and this resulted in overpayment to the contractor in the sum of $508,700. The Home Affairs Ministry had noted in its response that the contractor was reviewing the findings and had indicated that he was willing to repay the sum. Home Ministry Permanent Secretary Angela Johnson said that the issue was “unfortunate.” She added that after the works were completed, the consultant who was hired by the ministry had recognised that there was an overpayment. She said that the contractor had disputed that there was an overpayment and subsequently an adjustment was made to cover the bill of quantities done for the project. But the PAC noted that there was a clear breach of accounting procedures as the accounting officials would have sidestepped normal practices.
AFC MP David Patterson said that the ministry should have consulted with the ministerial tender board before making any adjustments to the scope of the project and before monies were paid over to the contractor. He questioned whether the consultant had changed the design of the project without the knowledge of the ministry and Johnson noted that there were several adjustments at the site and the bill of quantities would have been revised in this regard. She nevertheless accepted that there was a breach in accounting procedures and made assurances that it would not recur in future.
