PPP/C Councillor restates call for audit of City Hall’s spending

PPP/C city councillor Bishram Kuppen yesterday repeated calls for a forensic audit to be conducted on what he says are the billions of dollars that are being spent by City Hall without any credible financial reports.

Speaking at the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) weekly press conference at Freedom House yesterday, Kuppen said he was deeply troubled about what is going on at City Hall regarding the lack of accountability and transparency as it relates to the city’s finances.

He lamented that billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money are being spent “without any credible financial reports or audits performed for the money spent as required by the Municipal and District Councils Act.”

Section 177 (1) of the Act states, “All accounts of a council shall be made up yearly to the end of the financial year to which they relate by the treasurer of the council and shall be so made up not later than four months after the end of such year and shall be audited by the auditor as soon as practicable.” Section 177(2) adds that if a treasurer neglects to make up the accounts as required by subsection (1), he shall be guilty of an offence.

Some of the projects for which he has not seen any reports on expenditure include the cleaning up of Georgetown, the moving of the Stabroek Square vendors, the ongoing work at the Merriman Mall and the repairs to the Kitty Market.

He has raised the issue at statutory meetings and submitted a motion requesting a detailed listing of expenditure for each month.

According to Kuppen, a forensic audit would not only look at the financial aspects of the council, but would also make recommendations.

Kuppen pointed out that he contested the Local Government Elections because he “wanted to help bring about improved services and facilities, better markets, efficient management of the city’s affairs and, more importantly, transparency and accountability for taxpayers’ money, because the city has been mired in accusations of corruption and mismanagement for decades now.”

He said too that when any new council takes over, it should be a presented with an audited financial statement of the council’s finances from the Auditor General, as soon as possible.

Kuppen added that there is “widespread perception that corruption is rampant at City Hall. This perception is fuelled by the lack of accountability for hundreds of millions of dollars spent on projects with no public tendering, improper financial reporting, four hidden bank accounts which are not included in any financial reports to councillors and financial deficits being reported on a consistent basis every month.”

He said he has attempted to move a motion for a Forensic Audit on three occasions by submitting a written request to the Town Clerk to have the motions included on the agenda for the statutory meeting.

“One each occasion,” Kuppen said, “the Town Clerk has responded that he found fault with the motions but did not advise what those deficiencies were.

“It is my firm belief that my motion for a forensic audit is being deliberately blocked by the Town Clerk and others. The City of Georgetown is not an independent sovereign state, and it is in the interest of all citizens and the Central Government to ensure that a forensic audit is conducted of the city’s finances as soon as possible.”