Audits of state entities being carefully done – Granger

President David Granger yesterday said that the audits of state entities that are being conducted are comprehensive and are being painstakingly done to ensure all evidence is accumulated.

“We are accumulating evidence in cases of malpractice and we want to ensure that there is an efficient administration and at the same time there is no witch hunt,” he said on the weekly television programme `The Public Interest.’

When the APNU+AFC government took office in May, it had announced that several government institutions would be subjected to audits. Among them were the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Gold Board (GCB) and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)

Asked why government is yet to act on recommendations made in respect to some of these audits, he said, “some audits have been conducted and action will be taken.”

A report on the NICIL audit found a range of infractions relating to projects such as the Marriott Hotel and the Pradoville 2 housing scheme. On another project overseen by NICIL, the audit report found that $350M in public funds were wasted to construct the High Street building which was originally intended to house the Ministry of Labour.

Anand Goolsarran, the former Auditor General who conducted the forensic audit into NICIL at the behest of the APNU+AFC government, has recommended criminal charges and/or disciplinary actions based on the decisions made by NICIL and government officials. However, despite the report being submitted to the David Granger administration since October, no action has been seen in this regard.