Govt closer to identifying new building for SARA headquarters

– Minister defends ‘double dipping’
BY SAMUEL SUKHNANDAN

Government is closer to establishing a headquarters for the controversial State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA), formerly the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), after it was recently announced by Senior Finance Minister Winston Jordan that there is an interest in at least two buildings.

Jordan said he is not clear about the location of the two possible buildings and he may be wrong, but from his understanding the locations identified may have gone to the Tender Board for approval. He said this is to assist with fast tracking the establishment of the independent agency.
Some $89.8 million was sought for SARA under the Legal Affairs Ministry in a supplementary paper presented to Parliament recently. The Opposition had argued that the request is a breach of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) which states that new appropriations shall not be created. The Opposition had argued that an allocation from the budget has already been made.
While the Opposition has referred to this scenario as ‘double dipping,’ Jordan defended the Government stating that SARU and SARA are two different agencies. He said some of the staff from SARU will obviously be part of SARA until the Parliament formalises this agency.
“The law says up to the time the bill is passed, the staff of SARU will continue to function between three to six months, and when Parliament meets and names the Director and Deputy Director. How do you say that somebody is double dipping when they have to go and find a headquarters?” he argued.
The Minister said SARA is not headquartered in the Ministry of the Presidency, but that the new agency would have to find its own headquarters. “So, money has just been passed and part of that is to go and find a headquarters. When a headquarters is found, you have to staff it, furnish it,” he explained.
In providing a further breakdown of the process, Jordan said the employment cost for some of the people at SARU would have been budgeted under the Ministry of the Presidency, but SARA is a legal entity with its own identity and the subvention is to give legal effect to the entity.
They will have to get their own security, computers, desks, chairs and other amenities. But when you are sheltering under an agency called the Ministry of the Presidency, you don’t have that. All you are doing is piggybacking except for personal emoluments,” the senior Minister stated.
When questioned as to why the Government would set aside $116.31 million to assist with the purchase of furniture and equipment for the new SARA building, Jordan said the Government had to come up with an estimate because it would be best to do that, instead of looking for a place and equipment and furnishing then scrambling to find the money to assist with the setting up of the SARA headquarters.
Former Minister within the Finance Ministry, Juan Edghill had accused the Government of ‘double-dipping’, while maintaining that SARU has already received appropriations for the entire year under the Ministry of the Presidency and supplementary request now have SARA, the same thing as SARU, now under the Legal Affairs Ministry, which is totally unacceptable.
Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Anil Nandlall who also objected to the request said that the money could be better utilised on agencies that are in greater need of finance to carry out their policy functions, especially those that can impact positively on the lives of the poor and vulnerable in society.
Making reference to an Opposition call for the removal of VAT on private education and medical supplies, and the imposition of subsidies for the elderly, Nandlall said this excuse was also used to shut down these requests.
“We have been told that the nation cannot afford to implement those measures because of financial constraints. And that is why we don’t support this, and we don’t think that this is a priority for Guyana at this point in time. And we are essentially contending that this is a waste of money,” he asserted.
A total of $89.9 million of current expenditure, to cater for salaries, rental, utilities and other such recurring expenditure was approved in Parliament. Under Capital Estimates, $13 million were approved for the purchase of two pick-up vehicles for the unit. Another $13.4 million were approved for the purchase of furnishing and other equipment for the property being rented to house the agency.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has also expressed disappointment at what he described as the appointment of “political hacks” to the now vacant positions at SARA. He contended that his party would seek to have persons with the requisite qualification function in the positions at SARA, and would accept nothing less.
The People’s Progressive Party has also made known its intention to implement several changes to the SARA Bill 2017 if re-elected to office in 2020.