Around $175 million has been spent by the APNU+AFC government on completing 11 Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) and in one case the Chairman alone collected a $4.8M pay cheque, the National Assembly was informed on Thursday.
PPP/C MP Gail Teixeira had submitted a number of questions about the CoIs and Minister of State Joseph Harmon provided the written answers at Thursday’s sitting. The parliamentary opposition had repeatedly said that there was too much secrecy surrounding the cost of the inquiries. As a result, Teixeira asked about the status of the CoIs and whether preliminary and final reports had been submitted, and the costs, including payments to each Commissioner.
According to Harmon’s response, the 2015 inquiry into GuySuCo was completed and the final report was submitted on 28th September, 2015, to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. The total expenditure was $51,844,239, which included $1.980 million that was paid to the Chairman and $1.8 million each for the two commissioners. The final report was presented and laid in the National Assembly on 30th December, 2015. The wisdom of the expenditure will be queried as the government did not abide by the key recommendation of the report that no sugar estate be shut.
