The Government intends to submit a proposal in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to fast track the examination of the Auditor General’s Reports, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has stated.

There is currently a backlog in the examination of the Auditor General’s reports dating back to 2019.

On Friday, Minister Edghill, who is a member of the PAC, said the Government is cognizant of the backlog and intends to put forward a proposal to address it when the committee meets again.

“There have been a lot of conversations about the backlog in terms of what is being examined at the Public Accounts Committee. And it would be good for me to indicate to you [Mr. Speaker], and my colleagues on the other side of the bench that we intend at the next sitting of the Public Accounts Committee to bring a proposal that would make the backlog current,” Minister Edghill said.

After witnessing the handover of the 2025 Auditor General’s Report on Friday, Minister Edghill told reporters that the Government intends to ensure the effective utilization of time and personnel.

“We don’t want to have a REO come in March with a full team from Region One to deal with 2020 or 2021 and then he has to come back, and then he has to come back again in August to deal with this. It is costly, and it is not the best utilizing of time. We intend to put forth a proposal of how we can get up to date,” he explained.

Asked whether, the intention is to have the PAC meet every day of the week until the examination of the reports are up to date, Edghill said there is no such plan.

“If the PAC meets and we start at 9am, we can work to five or to six and in a schedule manner, how we deal with time allocation. So, the members on our team are prepared to work whenever we sit. It is not how often we meet, it is what we do when we meet,” the Public Works Minister said.

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Opposition Member of Parliament, Vishnu Panday, told reporters that he will await the Government’s proposal. He said the proposal will be given a fair hearing, although he is not fully in support of the consolidation of the reports.

“If the consolidation can bring about the results like that of scrutinizing independent year, yearly reports, then I may, and I say I may not have a problem with that. If you ask my take on it, I find it virtually impossible to combine all the reports from 2020 to 2024 to combine those reports and to have the same efficiency, and to the larger extent to fulfill the expectation of the general public in Guyana. I doubt whether that can happened,” the PAC Chairman said.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul said the PAC did not accomplish much during the two meetings held following its reconstitution earlier this year but looks forward to October when the work of the committee is expected to continue.

MP Mahipaul said he has taken note of comments by Minister Edghill that the Government will be making a proposal and will await that proposal. However, he said the coalition has long supported the consolidation of the reports to fast track the process of scrutinizing the reports.

“I must say our side, the APNU we want the backlog to be cleared. We have been championing that for the longest while that there is need for us to deal with current affairs, and the current Auditor General Report so that we can provide the necessary guidance to the accounting officers. But I must also say that this backlog was also created by the Members of the Peoples Progressive Party, by their absenteeism and their continuous unavailability for us to have regular Public Accounts Committee. So to now hear that they will be coming with a proposal to clear the backlog puts me in the thought that they have created the problem, and now they will be coming with a solution,” MP Mahipaul said.

The PAC is still concluding its work on the 2019 Report.

It is still to examine the reports from under the Irfaan Ali Government.

The PAC is expected to meet when the National Assembly comes out of recess on October 10.

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