A motion by government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira to limit the statutory sittings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to once a week was successfully passed on Monday, after weeks of back and forth on whether there should be two weekly sittings.
Subsequent to arguments for and against the motion, it was put to a vote and government parliamentarians on the committee used their majority to have the motion passed.
PAC’s Chairman Jermaine Figueira, in speaking with reporters in the corridors of Parliament on Monday, said he was “disappointed” with the decision.
He nonetheless explained that government members have agreed to meet more than once a week whenever necessary, to fast track the work of the committee.
“We are disappointed that the motion succeeded and it didn’t allow us the opportunity to meet two times per week given the backlog of work that needs to be done at the PAC,” a disappointed Figueira commented when the Committee took a break following the passage of the motion on Monday.
The chairman still holds the view that PAC meetings should be held more than once a week as the volume of backlog is relatively high.
Teixeira, however, countered that “The issue at stake is, do we need to statuaries additional meetings of the committee…? Our position is no.” She further added that there is no need for the committee to change the statutory sittings, which have been a norm of the committee since 1960s.
“I understand that we will like things to move faster but at the same time it’s not the only factor to consider,” she said as she moved to point out that the work of constitutional officers such as the Auditor General, Finance Secretary and Accountant General will be significantly impacted.
She also pointed out that after the committee concludes it scrutiny of the Auditor General’s report, they will have to prepare their own report and table it in parliament for it to be adopted. This is also a time consuming process, she said and stated that a report from pre 2015 is still to be adopted in parliament.
The report, which was submitted by Carl Greenidge, when was chairman of the committee made its way onto the agenda to be debated in 2018 and remains on the agenda.
Teixeira, who also holds the portfolio as Minister of Governance, added that “it’s a lot of work” when it comes to reports.
“We have said to the Chairman of the PAC, Mr Figueira, that the mechanism that has worked in the previous years is that there is a point person from the government side that works to solve the issues before we get into committee and we are trying to restore that…” she added.
Both Figueira and Teixeira gave their commitment to work together to address the backlog.
The minister, however, suggested that the objective of the opposition is fast track the work so as to get to the 2020 report when her government took office. “They want to jump that where they believe three months we were in government terrible things happened…”
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir on Friday last met Figueira and Teixeira to resolve the issues affecting the work of the committee.
The meeting came in the wake of Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs advising Figueira that several PAC meetings would have to be cancelled as none of the clerks wanted to provide service to it. The PAC had also been in strife over a motion by government members to reduce the number of meetings from twice weekly to weekly.
Since taking up the post of PAC Chair, Figueira has advocated for the Committee to meet more frequently to clear the backlog. However, members of the government side have argued that twice-weekly meetings would be onerous and they may not be able to attend due to other commitments.
“The Honourable Minister of Parlia-mentary Affairs and Governance, who sits on 90% of Committees of Parliament, has to accept that she is not omniscient nor omnipresent and meetings of the respective committees can actually go on quite well without her presence. This need to dominate and bully is disgusting and doesn’t augur well for a democratic and developing society,” Figueira had previously told Stabroek News.
He added that the PAC needs to proceed with its work and frequent meetings are required to address the backlog in the examination of public spending. He proposed that government ministers relinquish their posts on the PAC since they are tasked with the responsibilities of managing certain sectors.
“I’m of the firm belief, under our tenure and now, that ministers of government should not sit on the PAC. The government has other people, young people they can use and provide them with the opportunity to learn. The PPP should do as the Opposition, where three of its four members are under forty,” Figueira added.
