Dear Editor,
The Public Accounts Committee stands as a bastion of transparency and accountability and provides responsible oversight over public funds allocated. Without effective oversight, we risk witnessing fiscal mismanagement, reckless squandering of public resources, and a crisis of trust in the government’s financial stewardship. Yesterday’s cancellation of yet another statutory Monday meeting of the Public Accounts Committee is becoming more and more representative of the government’s clear plot to stymie the work of this very important committee of the National Assembly.
Primarily, the government members who sit on this committee are deliberately absenting themselves, especially the government ministers who should not have been there in the first place, according to Minister Gail Teixeira’s own words in parliament, where she posited “ministers of government should not sit on the PAC because of their commitments and heavy workload”. I agreed with her then and I agree with her even more now. The government members, we all have seen, continue to display a flagrant disregard for this crucial parliamentary oversight body, entrusted with the vital task of scrutinizing government’s financial matters.
The government’s consistent no-show is imperilling one of the guard rails of our democracy, it is handicapping the committee’s capacity to function as a robust oversight mechanism to aid the overarching principles of good governance. This disheartening trend began when the PPP/C government altered the Stand-ing Orders, mandating the presence of two government members for a quorum. This change, we argued then, was intended to slow down and stymie the committee’s work which the PPP/C denied was their true intention. But one year and months later, it is clear as day, with the more than 40 cancellations of the committee’s meetings since this unnecessary and unwarranted change was made, the PAC continues to grapple with an alarming backlog of work, particularly in its present examination of the financial records for the year 2019, rendering it five years behind schedule.
It is important to note that a fully functioning PAC is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy, providing a vital counterbalance to government actions and to ensure that accounting officers discharge their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the law and show respect in service to the people they serve. It is in this regard, I again, on behalf of the committee, emphatically call upon the government to prioritize the prompt resumption of regular PAC meetings, replace the “hard working” ministers of government with two other competent members, so that the committee can really begin to address its backlog of work in a meaningful way, diligently executing the pivotal oversight duties for the people of Guyana we all love.
Sincerely,
Hon. Jermaine Figueira, MP
Chairman
Public Accounts Committee