Twenty-seven regional officers of Region Six, East Berbice/Corentyne, who were occupying government quarters rent-free, contrary to regulations, will have to pay as of March.
This was related by the Regional Executive Offi-cer (REO) Kim Williams-Stephen, who told the Public Accounts Commit-tee (PAC) of Parliament on Monday that letters were sent out to the relevant officers on January 10, and the deductions will take effect from March.
Asked why it had taken the administration so long to act on the recommendations outlined in the 2015 Auditor General’s report, Williams-Stephen pointed out that she had only taken up the position in October 2016.
The 2015 report noted that an audit found that of the 87 residential buildings controlled by the regional administration, 72 were occupied by officers of the region, but the administration was not in receipt of rents from all those occupants.
It was stated that circularised instructions state that “for the occupation of Government quarters, Public Servants are required to pay rent of 10% and 12% of their salary, for unfurnished and furnished accommodation, respectively, except where entitlement to rent-free Government quarters had been previously approved, as a condition of service.”
The report had recommended that the necessary steps be taken to ensure all outstanding amounts of rent are collected and deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
