…as RDC in 2019 incorrectly processed $37.4M in vouchers
Instances of possible duplicate payments and mismatched documentation on purchase vouchers were on Monday highlighted before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), with Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) saying it has since strengthened its systems to prevent these breaches from reoccurring.
During Monday’s sitting of the parliamentary committee, past and present officials from the Region Five Regional Democratic Council (RDC) were brought before the PAC regarding Auditor General Deodat Sharma’s findings in his 2019 report.
They were made to give account for the fact that 93 payment vouchers, totalling $37.4 million, were incorrectly processed back in 2019. When the PAC questioned officers, however, many of the senior officials distanced themselves from these transactions.
Newly-appointed Region Five REO Dwayne Adams and his predecessor, Genevieve Blackman
Former Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ovid Morrison, when questioned by the PAC, was repeatedly unable to give explanations even though these transactions occurred during his tenure. According to PAC member and Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira, the PAC cannot accept explanations from senior officers that they did not know what occurred under their watch.
“There’s clearly a disjuncture in the region. The issue, as I said and Dr (Vishwa) Mahadeo said in the health sector, we are well aware of this, we know this, if there is a lack of drugs or shortage, the programme head has to request permission from the REO, that is a shortage and they need to procure. There’s no evidence that this was done.
“I’m not here to defend any accountant or whatever. But if you’re getting requests to pay, you can’t fob it off to your juniors. The Head of department, whether accounts or any other, the buck stops there. And so, if you’re getting documents, you’re supposed to see all the documents,” Teixeira said.
According to the Minister, documents such as Request to Pay (RtP) and documents signifying delivery of the supplies ought to have reached the programme heads before they could be signed off.
PAC Member and Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira
“So, you can’t fob it off to a junior and say, well the junior did it, not me… so I’m not accepting that excuse from the accounting person, that it was a junior person and they didn’t check it. Therefore, they were not carrying out their responsibilities,” Teixeira said.
Her fellow PAC member, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill also criticised the lack of accountability among the regional officials, noting that they were essentially playing a game of ‘hot potatoes’ before the PAC. He further emphasised that the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) did not permit the State to purchase supplies on credit.
Meanwhile, outgoing REO Genevieve Blackman, who was appointed in 2020, was present at the PAC with Dwayne Adams, who has since been appointed as the new Region Five REO. Blackman did assure that under her tenure as REO, better systems have since been put in place.
“Systems were put in place and this is reflective by the Auditor General’s reports for the subsequent years, where he would have noticed that audit queries are fewer. In general,” the former accounting officer said.
In his 2019 report, the Auditor General had flagged some cases in Region Five where payment vouchers had mismatched bill and requisition dates. In others, $22.7 million worth of bills were not cancelled after being paid, a situation that would result in duplicate payments. (G3)
