Eighty-nine percent of village councils failed to submit reports to the Ministry of the Presidency on how they spent $203.9m in grants for the year 2019.
This was one of the key findings of the Auditor General in his report on the public accounts which was recently tabled in the National Assembly.
None of the 61 councils in Region One (Barima/Waini) submitted reports. The same was the case for the 24 councils in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni). Seven out of the 10 councils in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) submitted reports.
The report noted that Village Councils would submit proposals for funding of projects and these would include acquisition of goods and provision of works and services. The report said that the Ministry of the Presidency under the APNU+AFC administration processed payments totalling $230.392M for 202 Village Councils.
Region №. of Councils Seven of these payments to seven Councils totalling $5.450M were processed on 2 January 2020 – after the close of the financial year and this was a breach of Section 43 of the FMA Act. The following table summarises the payments to the Councils:
The report said that the Head of the Budget Agency acknowledged this finding and explained that their actions were intended to facilitate Village Councils.
Up to the time of the Auditor General’s report in October 2020, four Village Councils had still not uplifted payments totalling $2.518M. These councils were those at Hobodeia and Arakaka in Region One, Kanapang in Region Eight and Muritaro in Region 10.
These payments should have been refunded in keeping with the requirements of Section 43 of the FMA Act, the report noted.
Due to the COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, the Audit Office was unable to visit the Village Councils to examine the relevant records pertaining to the projects. Verification of goods acquired and works completed could also not be accomplished. The Audit Office therefore requested the Ministry to provide the relevant records from the Village Councils.
“At the time of reporting, only twenty-two Village Councils submitted reports for audit. The submissions represented approximately eleven percent of the Village Councils to whom payments amounting to $26.400M were made. The payments also represented approximately eleven percent of the total Presidential Grants paid to the Village Councils.
“Furthermore, 180 of the Village Councils, which is approximately eighty-nine percent of the 202 Village Councils, did not submit reports. Total payments to these 180 Councils amounted to $203.992M, which also represented approximately eighty-nine percent of the total Presidential Grants paid to the Village Councils”, the report said.
The following table summarises the (non)submission of reports by Region:
The Head of the Budget Agency acknowledged this finding and stated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not in a position to report on the true status of these projects.
