Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma has highlighted a litany of irregularities in the execution of the 2015 Georgetown Restoration Programme, which has cost the treasury nearly a billion dollars over the four years it has existed.
According to the 2018 Auditor General’s report, which has been seen by Stabroek News, the special audit of the initial $300 million allocation remains incomplete as the Georgetown Mayor and City Council are yet to respond to the findings communicated on May 31, 2018.
Among the 18 discrepancies found in the expenditure of the first $300 million was the award of 12 contracts totalling $21 million to one contractor, contrary to the apparent stipulated maximum of four contracts to one contractor and the un-validated payments of $42 million to 27 contracts.