Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran says that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has been running a parallel treasury by virtue of its spending of $8.3 billion over the last three years for various government projects without parliamentary oversight.
The disclosure of the expenditure came as the GGMC defended a controversial $3 billion loan agreement with the Central Housing and Planning Authority. That loan has been deemed to be in contravention of the GGMC Act by Goolsarran and others including commentator Christopher Ram. It is unclear if the loan is proceeding.
In his accountability column in yesterday’s Stabroek News, Goolsarran noted that in its attempt to defend the loan, the GGMC had disclosed that there were 32 other instances in the last three years where monies totalling $8.388 billion were either transferred to or applied in support of other agencies. Goolsarran noted that the expenditure pertained to the