Auditor General hands over 2013 Report

Guyana’s Auditor General Deodat Sharma on Tuesday handed over his 2013 report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman at Parliament Building. The report is on public accounts for Government Ministries.

The report includes Government’s spending for its various Ministries and agencies.

The report will be sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is headed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Carl Greenidge. It will be scrutinised and then presented to Parliament.

The Speaker of the National Assembly has indicated that he believes that there is now the need of a fully functioning budget office at the Parliament to assist members of parliament so that they would be aware of what they should be looking for in the auditor general’s report.

Under this new process, the PAC has the authority to summon Ministers and other officials to provide explanations and information should they find discrepancies in the utilisation of public funds, following which corrective actions are taken.

The Audit Office has undergone significant changes over the years to strengthen its capacity to ensure improved auditing. This was supported by the International Development Bank (IDB), Canada and India with contributions that assisted the office to maintain its commitment to transparency.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Auditor General is observing its 130^th year of existence. The Office has since seen the appointment of three Auditor Generals posted at a variety of locations before the current one in High Street, Kingston where Sharma heads the entity.

Plans for the future, include improving the services of the office through the use of information technology and the assistance of the IDB is being sought in this regard.

1st October, 2014