Anand Goolsarran

Today is Election Day. It is the sincere hope of this column that peace will prevail in an atmosphere free of fear or intimidation, as citizens proceed to cast their votes for the political parties of their choice.

This is the fourth part of a series of articles on public financial management in Guyana’s post-Independence period.

This is the third article in a four-part series on the above subject.

About a week ago, the ruling party placed an advertisement in the Kaieteur News highlighting an article in the Guyana Chronicle dating back to November 1992.

Last week, we began a discussion of Guyana’s public financial management systems in both the pre-1992 and post-1992 periods.

Guyana has had a sad history of public accountability since it attained its Independence.

The head of NICIL, Mr. Winston Brassington announced that the Marriott Hotel will open its doors next month.

So far, we have carried two articles on the Administration’s efforts to access $3 billion from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to accelerate its housing programme in an apparent attempt to secure a political advantage in the run-up to the national elections.

We must set our face sternly against corruption and extravagance. We cannot have a Cadillac style living with donkey cart economies.

Last week, we discussed the Court ruling on the excess expenditure of $4.554 billion that the Minister of Finance had authorised without prior parliamentary approval.

Last Friday, two news items caught my eyes. The first was the Chief Justice’s ruling that the Minister of Finance violated the Constitution by authorising withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund without parliamentary approval, thereby causing excess expenditure totalling $4.554 billion to be incurred during the first half of 2014.

Before we begin our final in a four-part series on the above subject, I refer to the comments of the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on our two recent articles on the Fibre Optic Cable Project.

Last week, we began a discussion of our country’s performance on governance, transparency and accountability in 2014.

Last year around this time, we carried three consecutive articles entitled “Governance, Transparency and Accountability: Priorities for 2014”.

Last week, we began a discussion of the Government’s ICT programme which effectively commenced in 2010.

Good and honourable intentions, vigorously pursued to finality, are more likely to produce the desired outcomes.

Last week, we discussed the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index which rated Guyana at 124 out of 175 countries surveyed with a score of 30 out of 100, the lowest in the Caribbean, except for Haiti.

Democracy and accountability are the twin sides of the same coin.

On 29 November 2014, the Government announced a five per cent increase in the wages and salaries for public servants earning in excess of $50,000 per month and an eight per cent increase for those earning less than $50,000, retroactive to 1 January 2014.

Last week, we discussed the reason the President cited for proroguing Parliament as his belief that the Parliamentary Opposition wanted to disrupt Government’s business by forcing a debate on their no confidence motion.