Indicating that the last Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly was hamstrung by an amendment to the Standing Orders which changed the quorum requirement for the PAC to meet, resulting in numerous cancellations due to the lack of a quorum, the Committee after five years was unable to scrutinize the Government’s spending between 2020 and 2025.

APNU Member and former PAC Member, Ganesh Mahipaul, told reporters today that he was dissatisfied with the performance of the Committee, which was chaired by then Opposition Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira, who now supports the governing People’s Progressive Party.

“The last Public Accounts Committee stopped at 2019, so, we have not examined any accounts of the government in the last parliament – the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and now we have this 2024 report coming to parliament. No expenditure of the last government was done by the Public Accounts Committee, so, I am not comfortable with the work that was done by the last PAC,” Mahipaul told reporters.

With the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) securing a larger majority in the new Parliament, Mr. Mahipaul said he is still hopeful that the work of the PAC during the life of the upcoming Parliament would not be hampered by cancellations due to the lack of a quorum.

Noting that the Office of the Auditor General only audits 10% of the accounts of Government Ministries and Departments, Mahipaul said he looks forward to the day when there will be a more in-depth audit conducted of government’s spending.

“I know that in the last parliament, the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton and his team wrote to the Auditor General requesting audits be conducted on certain projects which include the Government’s Complex, which is being constructed at the Haags Bosch Landfill site to the tune of $15.8B, and we know that over $8B plus has already been spent and we have not seen value for that money. That was one project we requested of the Auditor General to examine in detail. We also did ask about the Belle Vue Pump Station,” Mahipaul said.

He also wants to see the audited accounts of the Guyana Water Incorporated, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Central Housing and Planning Authority, the Parliament Office, the Judiciary, and the Constitutional Commissions and Authorities being placed before the PAC for greater scrutiny.

“Several of these entities are dealing with billions of dollars, and their accounts are audited, their reports are submitted to the National Assembly but it is not reaching the Public Accounts Committee. I want to see them come to the Public Accounts Committee, those reports, and I want the Public Accounts Committee bring those officers before the PAC for them to answer to their expenditure because they are findings in those reports that are equally questionable as those that are reflected in the various ministries,” Mahipaul said.

Former PAC Member, Juretha Fernandes, spoke of the need for the Reports of the Auditor General on the Accounts of the Government to be made public once handed over to the National Assembly.

“We just witnessed the handing over of the Auditor General’s Report, however, it is not deemed laid until it is presented to the National Assembly. We have made recommendations in the past that when the document is handed over here, that it is deemed laid, that is something that we believe is necessary so that the public, the media would have that document to be able to scrutinize it,” Fernandes said.

She also made a case for regulations to be updated.

Ms. Fernandes pointed to the Stores Regulations which dates back to 2003, arguing that those regulations must be updated to remain relevant to developments unfolding today.

The Public Accounts Committee is made up of nine members from the Government and the Opposition.

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