A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, today called for a forensic audit to be conducted into the hundreds of billions of dollars allocated for projects under the Ministry of Local Government, as he searched for evidence of the work done.

Telling the National Assembly to “follow the money,” MP Mahipaul said hundreds of billions of dollars are channeled into infrastructure projects and mega capital works to the benefit of large contractors, developers, importers and well-established businesses. He said what is worse is that the projects are characterized by wastage and corruption.

MP Mahipaul said in 2025, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development was allocated $41.8 Billion. Of that allocation, $38.7 Billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, with $3.1 Billion for current expenditure.

The Local Government Ministry reported that $2.7 Billion was spent in its entirety on Bourda Green, the rehabilitation of the East Ruimveldt Market, the La Penitence (Albouystown) Market, the Merriman’s Mall and the Stabroek Market, but MP Mahipaul said evidence of those projects cannot be found.

“Mr. Speaker, the budget book says every cent of the $2.7 Billion was spent. Fully spent! Exhausted! Gone! And so I ask, on behalf of this House and the Guyanese people: Where is the work? Where is the $200 million worth of rehabilitation at the Stabroek Market? Where is the $75 million green space at Merriman’s Mall? Where is the $100 million rehabilitation of the Albouystown Market? Where is the $50 million rehabilitation of the East Ruimveldt Market? And where, Mr. Speaker, is the $260 million Phase One of the Bourda Green? There is no evidence of any. This is incompetence and wastage. There is need for a forensic audit,” MP Mahipaul said.

He said the issue raises questions of public trust, fiduciary duty, and financial probity. The former Minister of Local Government, Sonia Parag, he said, must account for every dollar.

“And if these funds did not materialize into concrete works, if they did not translate into steel, concrete, drainage, stalls, roofs, and public space, then the unavoidable conclusion is this: the money went into somebody’s pocket. The audit will reveal who, when and where the funds went. Mr. Speaker, if public funds are withdrawn, recorded as spent, and cannot be physically verified on the ground, that is not mismanagement, that is Public Theft. The Minister who was responsible for these sums of money, Honorable Sonia Parag must tell this House where the money is or who has it and how they got it,” he said.

Contending that “the rot does not end there,” the APNU MP said across the country, the hundreds of millions more has already been spent on markets, but the evidence of such expenditure is lacking.

“We are told $800 Million was spent on the Palmyra Culture Market in Region Six, $100 Million on the Port Kaituma Market, $200 Million on the western section of the Mon Repos Market, $75 Million for the Unity Market, $50 million for the Rose Hall Market, $75 million for the Bath Market, $50 Million for the Rosignol Railway Line, $200 Million for the Anna Regina Market on the Essequibo Coast, $30 Million for the Port Mourant Market, $180 Million for the No. 79 Village Market, and $40 Million for the Lethem Municipal Market. Mr. Speaker and members of the viewing public, the Budget states that in 2025, all this money was spent out, gone, not allocated, spend out. I therefore issue a direct challenge to the Government. Let the man in the street see if these markets reflect these astronomical sums. Let the vendors, the residents, and the commuters judge whether $2.7 billion and hundreds of millions more are visible in actual work or only on paper,” he said as he challenged the Government to produce the evidence.

According to Mahipaul, he has visited several locations, and the evidence does not match the expenditure, noting that this is a clear case of corruption and wastage.

He said the issues arising out of the Local Government Ministry strike at the heart of lack of transparency, accountability, and good governance, and the Auditor General must investigate.

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