…Opposition MPs challenge report consolidation, govt. project delays
(Kaieteur News) – Tensions boiled over on Friday as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members clashed over how to clear a multi-year audit backlog, scrutinise delayed capital projects and address the controversial extension of Auditor General Deodat Sharma beyond the normal retirement age.
PAC Chairman Vishnu Panday (APNU) and Opposition MP Ganesh Mahipaul both questioned a proposal to consolidate several outstanding annual reports into fewer hearings, while raising concerns about government spending, contract management and the handling of audit requests.
MP, Vishnu Panday
Panday said he was not convinced that combining several years of audit reports into single hearings would provide the level of scrutiny expected by the public. “I am not fully in support of the compiling or what we call the combining of the various yearly reports backlog for presentation,” Pandey told reporters.
He said attempting to deal with reports spanning several years in consolidated hearings could undermine the committee’s effectiveness. “If you ask my take on it, then I find it virtually impossible to combine all the reports…perhaps from 2020 to 2024…and to have the same efficiency, and to a larger extent fulfill the expectation of the general public,” he said.
Panday argued that accounting officers and government agencies should be given adequate opportunity to account for their activities on a year-by-year basis before the PAC reaches conclusions. Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, however, defended the proposal, arguing that the existing approach unnecessarily consumes time and public resources.
“We don’t want to have a Regional Executive Officer (REO) come in March with a full team from Region 1 to deal with 2020 or 2021, and then he has to come back again in August to deal with [another year],” Edghill said. “It’s costly and it’s not the best utilization of time… It’s not how often we meet, it’s what we do when we meet.”
Mahipaul agreed that the backlog must be cleared but blamed the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for the delays. “We are still in 2019. We have to wrap up 2019 before we move to the other years,” Mahipaul said.
He attributed the backlog to what he described as “absenteeism” and the “continuous unavailability” of PPP/C members for regular PAC meetings.
Panday also raised concerns over delays and potential cost increases associated with major government infrastructure projects. Against the backdrop of the $1.55 trillion 2026 National Budget, he questioned the need for the Government to return to Parliament during the year for supplementary funding when, according to him, progress on some projects had been limited.
“In project management, time is of the essence; time is money, huge money,” Panday said.
“With these government contracts, if you are talking about billions of dollars, then you can imagine if you have a time delay of one or two years, it is running into billions of dollars more.”
Mahipaul said the Opposition has also written to the Auditor General seeking formal audits of several infrastructure and relief programmes. The requests include audits of the Bellevue, Jimbo Grove, Meten-Meer-zorg and Charity pump stations, along with various cash grants distributed to farmers following flooding. Mahipaul said the PAC has not yet received written acknowledgement of the requests.
MP, Ganesh Mahipaul
He also criticised the prolonged evaluation of tenders relating to the salvage of the M.V. Barima, describing the process between September 8 and September 25 as “wickedness” and warning that continued exposure to salt water could compromise physical evidence.
Both Panday and Mahipaul also objected to the extension of Auditor General Deodat Sharma beyond the normal retirement age. Panday questioned the rationale for the decision and alleged that Sharma’s political connections influenced the extension. “I believe that Deodat Sharma is closely connected to the present government,” Panday asserted.
He argued that decisions concerning significant constitutional and statutory appointments or extensions should involve consultation with the Opposition Leader. “Discussions of that nature… ought to have engaged the attention of the Leader of the Opposition,” Panday said.
“Since that is not being done, then it bespeaks the quality and type of government we have today in Guyana.” Mahipaul framed the issue as one of institutional succession and staff morale. “Whenever someone has reached the age of retirement, they should go their merry way and allow others to elevate so that everyone can have a fair cut of the pie,” he said. He argued that extensions can prevent other public servants from being considered for promotion when senior positions remain occupied.
Edghill’s PAC role questioned
The two MPs also addressed calls by APNU for Edghill to step down from his ministerial portfolio following the M.V. Barima tragedy, and whether that controversy should affect his participation on the PAC. Panday acknowledged the political protest by APNU members but noted that the PAC Chairman does not have the authority under Parliament’s Standing Orders to unilaterally remove an elected MP from the committee. Mahipaul, meanwhile, distinguished between Edghill’s responsibilities as Minister of Public Works and his role as a parliamentarian.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill
“As Minister of Public Works, he oversees the Transport and Harbours Department… We believe he should recuse himself as Minister of Public Works and give way for a proper investigation,” Mahipaul said. He stressed that the Opposition was not calling for Edghill to resign as an MP.
“We have not called for his resignation as a Member of Parliament… But as to whether our party will continue to participate on the committee, that decision is yet to be made at our party level,” Mahipaul said.
Source: Kaieteur News
