The 2010 Auditor General’s Report was yesterday presented to acting Speaker of the National Assembly Clarissa Riehl, by acting Auditor General Deodat Sharma, and he gave a mixed review of government’s implementation of previous recommendations.
Riehl informed that although the report was presented on its due date September 30, 2011, its contents will not be revealed since protocol requires that it first be tabled in parliament. Tabling of the report, she added, will be on an indefinite hold since Parliament has already been dissolved.
The report on the public accounts of Guyana and on the accounts of the ministries, departments and regions for the fiscal year 2011, according to the Auditor General, had its highs and lows. He said that one high was closure of several giveback accounts, with one of the lows being overpayment of monies to contractors who were awarded public tenders.
He said he was elated to have met the report deadline. Owing to the dedication and intensive work of his staff, he was not put in the trend of being late as was the case for the last two years.
Implementing international auditing standards and using the “risk based approach to auditing” were also listed as vital aids that assisted his office in meeting the statutory deadline yesterday. He ended by pledging future audits of the highest standard as his ministry’s staff is supplemented to 190 persons by the end of this year.
