— other agencies listed as tender goes out for audit contracts
The University of Guyana will be one of the entities audited
The Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) has taken steps to audit a number of agencies which have not had updated audits under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.
According to a notice, the Audit Office announced that chartered accountants were being invited to apply for contracts to audit the various agencies, in accordance with Part 4 of the Audit Act of 2004.
“The Auditor General invites applications from Chartered Accountants in public practice to examine and audit on his behalf the accounts of public corporations and other bodies in which controlling interest vests with the State,” the notice says.
The entities being audited include the University of Guyana (UG) and the UG pension scheme, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), MARDS Rice Milling Complex Limited, the Guyana National Co-operative Bank, Skeldon Energy Incorporated and Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated.
With the exception of the UG pension scheme (2016), all the aforementioned entities are having their 2020 years of account audited. Last year, the Audit Office was in the process of conducting a special audit into UG’s finances.
That was until the then APNU/AFC Government pulled the plug on paying for it, thus stalling the process. This happened after the Audit Office had already been given the go-ahead to conduct the audit and had contracted an independent auditor.
The audit was first ordered by the Education Ministry after a request was made by the two workers’ unions at UG to have such an investigation launched. The Ministry was going to stand the expense associated with the investigation.
The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) had alleged that UG’s administration had been spending extravagantly on hosting events, standing the expenses of meals and accommodation for guest speakers, as well as hiring select individuals, paying them super salaries, and sending large delegations overseas, all on the University’s bill.
For the year 2019, the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority will have their accounts audited, and the Linden Enterprise Network Incorporated and the Department of Public Information (DPI) will have their 2018 books audited.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Hotel Incorporated (AHI), the Government-owned special purpose company managing Guyana’s Marriott Hotel, will also have its 2017 books audited. Also having its 2017 books audited is the Protected Areas Commission.
The Linden Mining Enterprise Limited and the Mabaruma Power and Light Company Incorporated will have their 2016 books audited. The lone entity that will have its 2015 books audited is the Hinterland Electrification Company Incorporated, which is charged with expanding and upgrading electrical systems throughout the hinterland.
The only entity having its pre-2015 accounts looked at is President’s College. According to the notice, tenders close on December 21, 2020.
