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| “A policy decision is required on the matter” is the only response of the Ministry to several of the irregularities highlighted by the Auditor General in the recently published Public Accounts Audit Report. There are several documented cases of the Ministry clearly not following proper procedure in their accounting and management practices.The spending of funds that were not intended for the Customs and Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) to meet the unit expenses ,Cheap NBA Store, payment of employee salaries outside of government pay scales and the issue of management of the unit not being under the mantle of the Customs and Trade Administration were all defended in the same manner. Head of the Budget agency indicated that a policy decision is required on the matters in spite of the Auditor General’s recommendations for correcting the issues permanently.The State Planning Commission which was to have been dissolved several years ago was still in existence at the time of the audit with a functioning Secretariat staffed by some 36 persons, 18 of whom were employed in other agencies and still attached to the Commission, receiving salaries as well. Also, the last time the records of the State Planning Commission were audited was also found to be some 19 years ago in 1991 – a finding to which the Ministry responded that they were awaiting a policy decision on the matter.The Guyana Lottery Company is required to submit 24 per cent of its proceeds to the Government. These funds are then used to fund a number of community service oriented activities, however, it was decided by the National Assembly that they be deposited directly into the Consolidated Fund, from whence their use needs to have prior approval from the House. The audit however revealed that in direct contravention of the Fiscal Management Act (FMA) Section 38(1), the funds were being deposited into another bank account, allowing them to be spent without Parliamentary approval. According to the report, from 1996 to 2008, almost $3.3B was received from the Guyana Lottery Company and deposited in the wrong account in which the balance as at December 31, 2008 was $186.5M, indicating that some $3.1B had been spent. These findings were countered with the Ministry’s response – awaiting a policy decision on the matter.The Procurement Act provides for the establishment of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board with a predetermined number of staff. The audit pointed out that the staffing at the time was in excess of what had been indicated. Legislation also required the creation of a Public Procurement Commission which would then have ensured independent and impartial decisions on the regulations and procurement documentation as well as to hold the reporting responsibility for the respective tender boards – National, District, Regional, et al. This commission however has not been established and the National Tender Board is therefore undertaking its responsibilities. The National Tender Board at the time of audit was also operating with less than its full complement of staff and had not created any District Tender Boards as required in accordance with the act. There were also issues of entities procuring contracts and not meeting the reporting obligations as set out in the act.The Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) which was implemented was also featured in the report since a number of the agencies using the system were not keeping essential records and data input was found to be inconsistent both among agencies and within the Ministry itself. |
