The Government of Guyana continues to funnel money into several statutory agencies but audits of the expenditure of billions over the last decade are still pending in many cases.
One such agency is the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), which has not had a completed audit since 2005.
According to the most recent Auditor General’s report, MARAD is subject to separate financial reporting and audit but while field work for audits in 2006 and 2007 are completed, the 2008 to 2009 audits “continue,” while the 2010 to 2012 audits need to be planned and financial statements for 2013 to 2017 have not been submitted to the Audit Office.
Stabroek News attempted to contact Auditor General Deodat Sharma to understand why audits for 2006 to 2012 have not been completed and what efforts have been made to source financial statements for 2013 to 2017 but repeated efforts to reach him over a two-week period failed.
This newspaper was also unable to make contact with the Director of MARAD Claudette Rogers, who was in meetings when her office was contacted.
Questions about the accounting practices of the administration were asked last month after Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson admitted that US$9,000 was used from the agency to finance a construction forum trip to China in 2016.
Patterson was later, in 2017, reimbursed via his private account and has said that he immediately transferred the funds to MARAD.
The minister, in a Facebook post, said that in April 2016, via the Chinese Embassy in Guyana, an invitation was extended to him to attend and make a presentation at the 7th International Investment and Construction Forum in Macao, China. A copy of the invitation was attached to the post. “The organizers committed to reimburse travel related expenses up to US$10,000. Cabinet permission was sought and received. The advance for the trip was paid by MARAD,” he said.
According to Patterson, he attended the conference, and sometime in 2017, a refund for his travels was processed and paid to him as the attendee. He said that he promptly remitted the money to MARAD. “This is not an unusual practice with regard to reimbursements for international travel,” he stressed. The post was in response to a post by the opposition PPP, which said “In February of 2017, US$9000 was deposited by China International Contractors into the personal bank account of Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.”
It is not clear what financial guidelines governed the two transactions from and to MARAD nor is it clear what the monies were originally budgeted for.
MARAD is, however, not the only agency where such questions remain unanswered. According to the Auditor General’s report, amounts totalling $2.814 billion were transferred during 2017 as capital releases to eight statutory agencies under the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. All of these agencies are subject to separate audit and none of them are up to date. The Demerara Harbour Bridge has not had a complete audit since 2014, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has not had one since 2011, the Transport and Harbours Department has not had one since 2009, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport has not had one since 2015, the Lethem Power Company has not had one since 2012 and the Hinterland Electrification Company Incorporated has not had one for the entirety of its existence.
Under other ministries, such as the Ministry of the Presidency, similar situations persist. The National Parks Commission has not had a complete audit since 2008 and the Protected Areas Commission has not been audited since 2012. The Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) has also not been audited since 2008, the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) since 2007, while the Hope Coconut Estates have somehow managed to continue to receive subventions though they have not had a complete audit since 1994.
There are 58 statutory bodies that are required under relevant Acts of Parliament to be audited, none of which are “up to date.” In some cases, as with MARAD, financial statements have not been submitted but in several cases while financial statements have been “received by Audit Office” or an audit plan has been submitted or even if field work has been completed, the audit report has not been finalised.
