The National Assembly on December 17 adopted the report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on its examination of the 2009 Auditor General’s report, which detailed continued instances of breaches of the law and contractor overpayment in the operations of budget agencies for that year.
The report said that on January 10, 2011, the PAC began its deliberation of the 2009 Auditor General’s report and that the main issues were overpayment to contractors, refund of salaries and consequential deductions, capital expenditure being met from current allocation, breach of Procurement Act 2003 and regulations, uncleared advances, non refund of monies to the Consolidated Fund and lack of maintenance of log book.
However, among the findings of the committee was the non-establishment of the Public Procurement Commis-sion and it added that it continued to await the submission of names by the political parties. It further said that the delay in the submission of the names serves as a deterrent to fairness and transparency in the procurement process.
The PAC also noted the continued non-submission of financial statements by subvention agencies. It noted that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, the National Sports Commission, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and the State Planning Secretariat continue to operate in breach of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2003.
In particular, the report said the PAC expressed deep concern over breaches of the Act by the Guyana Election Commission (Gecom), which it said was committing irregularities regarding spending monies appropriated from public funds. It said that the issue related to uncleared cheque advances.
The PAC in its examination of the 2009 report said that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation explain-ed that drugs and medical supplies were procured through the Ministry of Health to maximise on economies of scale. “The Committee recognises that no system of competitive bidding was adhered to in the procurement of drugs and medical supplies. The Committee expresses concern over the revenues collected by the Head of Budget Agency were being used for activities sanctioned by the Board of Directors instead of being credited to the Consolidated Fund,” the report said.
The report also pointed to continued breaches on the part of the Region Democratic Councils of contractor overpayment and breaching the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
