The APNU+AFC government needs to come clean on the spending for the inauguration of President David Granger, says former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran.
The government is yet to make public the breakdown of where funding came from and how it was spent on the May 26 presidential inauguration.
At a post cabinet press briefing on Thursday, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman said government was currently compiling a list and it would be made public.
Goolsarran is of the belief that this should have already been done to display good governance and transparency.
Goolsarran told Stabroek News that “private funding for public expenditure in keeping with our laws… would be considered a gift or a donation. It has to be valued and brought in the public accounts.”
He said there should be a line item in the 2015 expenditure statements in the next budget showing that there was a value and a source for this funding.
“When private funds are being used for public events the government owes it to the public to disclose where the money came from and how the money was spent,” Goolsarran stated.
He acknowledged that the private funding could be viewed as a form of lobbying. Goolsarran said that as such laws are provided for gifts and donations to be valued and publicly disclosed.
He said government should have never have waited for a Member of Parliament to bring a motion requesting information on the inauguration. “I know there were questions asked. I don’t think the government should have waited for a motion to be tabled they should have made the disclosure before that,” he said.
“A sign of good governance and transparency would dictate that you don’t wait for a Member of Parliament to pose those questions to you.”
Since the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport under the Education Ministry was not responsible for providing any funding for the May 26 inauguration, it was not unacceptable for Junior Minister Nicolette Henry to provide no response on what monies were used, Goolsarran said. However, he added, “Despite that fact, I believe it is appropriate for a disclosure to be made—a list of persons and the expenditure incurred—in respect to transparency.”
He said, “Mr Trotman has the floor to speak,” noting that since the expenditure would have been made through the Ministry of the Presidency, the Minister of Governance would need to pronounce on the matter.
In a written response to questions posed by PPP/C parliamentarian Dr Frank Anthony, Henry had stated that the Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, Youth and Sport was not required to provide any financial, technical, nor in-kind support in preparation for the presidential inauguration events held at Independence Arch in Brickdam, the Pegasus Hotel, the stadium and elsewhere, including the clean-up up campaign that preceded those events.
Anthony had asked the minister to provide a detailed list of all costs incurred in relation to, and in preparation for, the presidential inauguration events. He also asked the minister to indicate the source of funding and to provide a detailed list giving the nature and total value of contributions made.
Henry responded that as indicated in the first response, no financial support was provided therefore no source of funding can be indicated and, as a result, the ministry also has no list.
Questions had been raised about the cost of the inauguration ceremony on May 26, and whether private individuals had contributed.
