APNU/AFC left a legacy of “squandermania”, “incompetence”– Edghill

…made unapproved withdrawals from Consolidated, Contingency Funds

The depths of the situation inherited by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) upon their ascension to Government last month was on Wednesday laid bare by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill during his budget presentation.
During his presentation, Edghill lamented that the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government had raided the Consolidated and Contingency funds, making withdrawals that did not meet the legal requirements.

Article 217 of the Constitution of Guyana stipulates that money cannot be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except: “(a) to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or by any Act of Parliament; or (b) where the issue of those (sums of) money has been authorized by an Appropriation Act; or (c) where the issue of those (sums of) money has been authorized under Article 219.”
Article 220 (2) stipulates that “Where any advance is made from the Contingencies Fund, a supplementary estimate shall, as soon as practicable, be laid before the National Assembly by the Prime Minister or any other Minister designated by the President for the purpose of authorising the replacement of the amount so advanced.”
But according to Edghill, under APNU/AFC “There were regular withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund and 20 months of uninterrupted, unauthorized invasion of the public purse, and also withdrawals from the Contingency Fund which did not meet the legal requirements, throwing the entire financial architecture of the country off its legal and constitutional tracks.”
He also pointed to the sharp increase in employment in the public sector, which drove up operational costs. Despite the increase in employment, Edghill said, there was no increase in work output. He said incompetence and discrimination also pervaded the former Government’s activities.
“Massive incompetence in every sphere of Government activity, to the extent that not only their manifesto promises of 2015 remain undelivered, but even normal functions of Government were not performed,” Edghill said.
“(There was also) widespread discrimination in every aspect of governance, including, but not limited to, employment, scholarships and allocation of resources,” the Minister added during his presentation.
The Minister also chided the former Government for the large sums of money it squandered, ranging from the Sussex Street bond fiasco to the D’Urban Park, both of which saw huge sums being expended for little value.
Edghill also cited the Ocean View Hotel-turned-COVID hospital, on which the former Government spent over $1 billion refurbishing and extending. Despite this large sum being spent, the hospital remains inoperable, and the current Government has been forced to allocate another $700 million just to render it operational.
The distribution of land by the former Government to friends, family and associates was also cited by Edghill. The PPP, while in opposition, had campaigned that it would reverse the massive tracts of land given away in the waning days of APNU/AFC Administration should they enter Government. According to Edghill, these transactions lacked any semblance of due process or transparency.
“The wholesale giveaway of our most important national patrimony – land – to friends, families and financiers of the APNU-AFC without due process, without an iota of transparency and, in most cases, far below market value, and in one instance no money being paid but an absolute title given,’ Edghill said in the National Assembly. (G3)