Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir is currently seeking to find a solution for the resumption of meetings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.
Nadir’s intervention comes on the heels of the PAC being informed by Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs of the unavailability of a clerk to work with the committee.
“This matter is engaging my attention and that is all I will say at this moment,” Nadir told Stabroek News when contacted yesterday.
Since the communication from Isaacs last week, PAC Chairman Jermaine Figueira has not received an update but he is nonetheless hopeful that a new clerk could be appointed and the next sitting can be held as early as Friday.
The Chairman yesterday said that he is still shocked at the fact that a clerk is unavailable. He noted that the former clerk, who has indicated that she would be unable to continue in the post, has not worked with the committee for more than two months and during that time meetings were held once a week.
He added that while the APNU+AFC coalition government was in office, meetings had been held for two weeks uninterrupted to clear their backlog. On this note Figueira said that something seems to be amiss.
Figueira said he plans to write the Speaker and Clerk of the National Assembly for an update on the matter and to express his disappointment at the unavailability of a clerk to facilitate meetings.
Additionally, he pointed out that since assuming Chairmanship of the committee, he had put systems in place to accommodate persons who are unable to physically attend.
Asked if he will be open to foregoing scrutiny of reports from the past five years and focus instead on the 2020 Auditor General’s Report when it is tabled later this year, he asserted that the decision will have to be made by the committee.
However, he opined that government members might object as their spending for the year in office will be under the microscope and he does not think they will opt for the scrutiny when they have an agenda to criticise the spending of the former David Granger-led administration.
Isaacs informed Figueira last Thursday that the meetings scheduled for last Friday and yesterday were cancelled due to the unavailability of clerks.
The development also comes amidst a row over a recent decision by the PAC to meet twice a week to clear its backlog of work.
“…The present Clerk of the Committee has developed health issues because of high stress levels and cannot continue to clerk the Committee,” Isaacs said in a letter to the PAC’s members, while noting the “frequent challenges” being encountered at its meetings.
“All other Clerks of Committees are unwilling to clerk the Public Accounts Committee because of the unprofessional conduct of some members of this Committee, which is not conducive to a healthy working environment. Unfortunately, in light of the above, I am unable to provide the Public Accounts Committee with a Clerk…” Isaacs added in the letter, which was released to the media on Friday by Parliament Office.
Figueira also noted that while the correspondence referred to some members’ conduct as “unprofessional,” he did not share that view. He said that they conduct themselves professionally. However, he acknowledged that at times members can be “loud” as they debate matters but he said he would always step in and caution members to refrain from such behaviour.
When elected in July of this year, Figueira had said that the PAC would seek to meet twice weekly in an attempt to clear its four-year backlog. There is, however, currently a dispute among members on the number of days the PAC should meet. Government has been arguing that a motion passed by the committee to meet twice every week is burdensome and they may not be able to attend due to other commitments.
