Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Vishnu Panday said on Tuesday that the committee will seek to develop strategies to aggressively tackle its substantial backlog when it resumes meetings on October 10, after failing to meet during the parliamentary recess.

Panday had floated the possibility of meeting during the recess to help ease the backlog but noted that this could not happen largely because of the unavailability of government members, with Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira indicating that the period traditionally provides an opportunity for parliamentarians to take vacations, travel abroad and attend to personal matters.

“What was important was to have the government side, because remember the PAC deals with a quorum,” Panday told Kiskadee Watch. 

“From initial discussion, Minister Gail Teixeira, who is a member, did say that it is during this time that people go on their vacation, maybe some may go abroad and they have their personal things to do and they would have planned all year round for the recess period. And because of that, I did not relentlessly pursue the issue because I thought it would have been one opportunity”, he said.

“We intend whenever we meet, recommencing from the 10th of October, that we will map out some strategies how we can move relentlessly forward to ensure that we minimise the backlog,” Panday shared. 

He expressed optimism that the committee could make progress, saying his experience from the meetings held so far has indicated that members are prepared to work towards reducing the outstanding workload. “I’m very optimistic, because from the few times we met, I’m seeing the indication that people are willing to really reduce the backlog,” he said.

However, he identified the position of APNU members Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes as a potential obstacle, particularly over their objection to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill continuing to sit on the committee. “If Mr Edghill continues to sit on the committee and they continue to demonstrate what they have demonstrated in the last meeting, then that’s a problem,” Panday said.

Mahipaul and Fernandes walked out of an August PAC meeting after Panday ruled that Edghill could not be compelled to leave the committee. Their departure left the committee without a quorum and resulted in it being aborted.

Panday said he has not received any indication from the two APNU members about whether they intend to maintain their position when the committee resumes. “I believe that when we recommence from the 10th of October, that would be the best signal or perhaps the best time to evaluate what their intentions are,” he said.

Panday believes that the political demand for Edghill’s removal must be separated from the specific mandate of the PAC. “The PAC does not have the authority to put Mr Edghill out of office or to put him out of the committee,” he said.

He added that while he personally shared the concerns being raised about Edghill and Minister Indar, the committee’s immediate responsibility was to scrutinise the Auditor General’s reports. “I still believe that one should consider the forum of which we are sitting, that’s the PAC. We are there to ensure that we peruse the Auditor General’s document or his reports over the years.”

Panday has previously warned that the committee was about six years behind in examining the Auditor General’s reports. He said in August that, given the historical pace of completing approximately one year of reports in a year, a sequential approach could leave the PAC dealing with the backlog until 2032.

On Friday, at the handing over of the Auditor General’s Report for 2025, Edghill signalled that he had a proposal to address the backlogged accounts which are still to be examined by the PAC.