Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation in Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecký on Thursday signed a contract with former Auditor General and now Public Finance Management Consultant Anand Goolsarran which will help the government here to meet the criteria for EU budget support for the sugar and sea defence sectors.
A statement from the EU yesterday said that the contract will assist the Government of Guyana in evaluating the country’s Public Finance Management as well as in the preparation of a Budget Transparency Action Plan.
The assignment will last until the end of this year.
Kopecký said that these efforts are in keeping with desired improvements of public finance management, accountability and transparency in Guyana.
The EU has insisted on a number of measures before the release of $5.8 billion (€25 million) –frozen under the previous administration – for sea defence and the sugar sector including for government to show that funds released previously were utilized in a transparent manner.
In an interview with Stabroek News last month, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson said “With regard to the sea defences, the real truth is that it is a tremendously expensive proposition. Unfortunately, due to the previous administration‘s performance, we were eligible for some support from the EU and that had been frozen. It started, initially because of the lack of parliamentary oversight, but they’ve now also tagged on the question of transparency, corruption etcetera onto the requirements and so this government, my ministry is now a recipient of that”.
The minister said that it was unfortunate that the new administration’s planning and execution of projects would be delayed due to the lack of transparency in the previous administration. He asserted that the work that has been done over the years has not been “substantial.”
