Auditor General Deodat Sharma today handed over his Report on the Public Accounts of Guyana for the Year 2024 to the National Assembly. He also handed over the Report on the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
The submission of the reports marks the 14th consecutive time that the Auditor General has submitted his reports to the National Assembly before the September 30 statutory deadline.
In total, the Auditor General Sharma has submitted 21 reports, surpassing the record of former Auditors-General Reginald Farnum, who presented 14 Reports and Anand Goolsarran who presented 9 Reports.
In a statement during the handing over ceremony at the Public Buildings, Mr. Sharma said his Office has pushed training and development with two engineers from the Works and Structures Department, undergoing training on contract management.
He said contract management is key to the work carried out by the Department in the review of projects across Guyana.
“Understanding contract management helps to determine whether contractors are adhering to the terms of the contract and whether over-payments were made based on contract terms. In addition, during the fiscal year 2024, the Works and Structures Department was involved in training of staff from various ministries and departments in the following areas: understanding public procurement, common procurement fraud schemes and summary red flags and contract management. As a result, over-payments found are now recovered and not disputed by the contractors of ministries and departments,” the Auditor General said.
Auditors have also completed training on auditing the extractive industries, but Mr. Sharma said the Office of the Auditor General is still confronted with a number of challenges, including inadequate staff, particularly in the area of Oil and Gas.
“I am now building the Oil and Gas Section. That’s an area I sent to the Public Accounts Committee and I sent back to the Public Accounts Committee to increase the numbers there. That’s a new area that we are looking at,” the Auditor General said.
It was explained that Members of Parliament and Officers of the Audit Office have undergone training on auditing the Extractive Industries – Oil and Gas, conducted by the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF).
The Auditor General said that he was pleased with the progress made in addressing the recommendations cited in his annual reports, noting that there have been improvements.
He said his Office has been working closely with the Finance Secretary to ensure the requisite documents are provided for scrutiny.
“In fact, the number of recommendations has been reduced tremendously. There have been improvements in terms of log books; almost all ministries have been presenting their log books. There have been improvements in terms of fuel management; there have been improvements in terms of, as I mentioned earlier, the contractors do not dispute the Audit Office in terms of our findings,” the Auditor General said.
However, the Auditor General said over-payments to contractors and suppliers remain a major problem, and more must be done to address the issue.
According to him, the Audit Office is no longer doing “post mortem audits”, but is now conducting “real time” audits in reviewing projects.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, thanked the Auditor for consistently submitting his reports within the statutory deadline.
The Audit Office has also been partnering with the National Data Management Agency (NDMA) to ensure all relevant security and data management protocols are utilized by its officers in an effort to prevent cybercrimes and ensure sensitive data is protected.
“We have come a very long way and for this I offer my congratulations to the Auditor General and his staff for a job that they have executed in a most efficient, professional manner. To continually submit by the required time, except for the COVID period, these reports is a monumental achievement and not only the Auditor General Report for the year but also the performance audits,” the Speaker said.
Mr. Nadir remains speaker until a new Speaker is elected.
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, Members of the last Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul, Juretha Fernandes, and Sherod Duncan and former Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Jermaine Figueira, were among the officials present for the handover ceremony.
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