Govt to present backlogged annual reports, statements in Parliament

— GuySuCo’s, NIS’s among reports to be presented on Wednesday

Wednesday will mark the second sitting of the 12th Parliament, where a plethora of reports and statements are expected to be presented on behalf of State agencies and commissions which have not had the benefit of scrutiny owing to the political turmoil over the past year.

There are a number of reports and financial statements to be tabled, which fall under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, Agriculture and Public Works. Among the reports scheduled to be tabled are the annual reports of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for 2016 and 2017.
In addition, GuySuCo’s audited financial statement for 2016 and unaudited financial statement for 2017, are expected to be circulated. There are a number of question marks hanging over GuySuCo for that period.
This includes questions over the reason for GuySuCo being unable to reach its sugar production targets and also why it continues to operate at a deficit. According to the 2017 mid-year report, GuySuCo had an operating deficit of $6.3 billion.

Its position was only made tenable in 2016 because the Government provided it with $9 billion to fund its operations in that year’s budget. The 2016 mid-year report notes that without funding from the treasury, GuySuCo would have recorded a deficit.
Under the Minister of Agriculture, the Guyana Marketing Corporation’s (GMC) audited financial statement for 2016 will also be presented. Audited financial statements for the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) from 2010 to 2015 are also slated to be presented.
The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will also have its annual reports for 2017 and 2018 presented in the house. The scheme has also featured a dismal financial record. For 2016 mid-year, NIS had a $63.3 million deficit.
By 2019, that figure had grown to an overall deficit of $748.4 million, compared to the $715.6 million it recorded in the same half-year period for 2018. Revenue collection for 2019 was $11.9 billion, 9.7 per cent more than the same period for 2018.
Other reports scheduled to be laid in the National Assembly are the report of the Directors of the Dependents Pension fund for 2018; the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) annual report for 2018; the annual report of the Guyana Oil Company’s annual report for the year 2018 and the annual report of the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNSC).
In addition, the 2019 mid-year report is also expected to be laid. This report will tell the story of the economic damage done to the country by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change’s (APNU/AFC) refusal to call elections within the prescribed three months following their defeat by a No-Confidence Motion in December 2018.
In fact, the long delay between the successful No-Confidence Motion of December 2018 and the election of President Dr Irfaan Ali in August 2020, is likely the reason for these reports being backlogged.
Before the 1st sitting of the 12th Parliament last week, there had been no sitting of the National Assembly since May 23, 2019, on account of the successful passage of a No-Confidence Motion. During that time, only members of APNU/AFC attended parliamentary sittings.
Members of the then Opposition PPP/C had committed to not attending sittings until after elections were held, as the successful passage of the motion required that elections be held three months thereafter, on March 21, 2019. The 11th Parliament was dissolved on December 31, 2019, to make way for the March 2 elections.