Govt to probe illegal spending in Region 3 under APNU/AFC regime – Min Dharamlall

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall has disclosed that investigations will be launched into the millions of dollars illegally spent by the former APNU/AFC administration while it was in caretaker mode and was without any parliamentary oversight.

The former Coalition Government was toppled in December 2018 following the valid passage of a No Confidence Motion (NCM) against it. The Government failed to comply with constitutional provisions which stipulate that elections ought to be held within three months of the passage of the NCM, and general and regional elections were not held until March 2020. And despite being in caretaker mode during that period, the APNU/AFC were operating in a business-as- usual manner.
In fact, there was massive spending and giving away of state resources during that period when the country was without a national budget and parliamentary guidance. The last national budget was tabled in December 2018 for the following fiscal year.
After a tumultuous five-month period following the March 2, 2020 elections, the Irfaan Ali-led People’s Progressive Party/Civic assumed office, and just over a month later, presented an Emergency National Budget for the remainder of the 2020 fiscal year.

The National Assembly is currently considering the estimates for the various state agencies. However, on Thursday, the Committee of Supply approved the budgetary allocation for Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) but not before scrutiny by the APNU/AFC Opposition.
Minister Dharamlall was fielding questions from Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul on a $57 million allocation for Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) works under the Region Three Agricultural Programme when he disclosed that illegal spending by the previous administration will be probed.
“I will be forced to asked the REO (Regional Executive Officer) to conduct an investigation of the expenditures in Region Three, to find out whether the last administration has used monies that were not appropriated and were not constitutionally due to be spent,” the Local Government and Regional Development Minister stated during the consideration of the Budget estimates for Region Three.
At the time, Mahipaul was trying to ascertain whether the works for which the monies were allocated were completed or ongoing. In response, Minister Dharamlall explained that any spending without parliamentary oversight would be illegal.
To this end, he reassured that “every cent that we spend under the PPP/C administration will have parliamentary approval and oversight. The last administration, as you’re aware, for an entire year practically spent billions of dollars – $160 billion and more – without parliamentary approval. In this case, the $57 million is before the Parliament for approval. We brought it here, so it means that none has been spent.”
Moreover, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Dharamlall registered his concerns after Mahipaul boasted that the Coalition had spent some $160 million.
“Any monies that were spent without parliamentary approval is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional; so, there is no boasting of spending $160 million without parliamentary approval and without constitutional provisions appropriated to such expenditure…
“I am worried, Mr Chairman, as many are in this House, that there was great corruption by APNU/AFC spending billions of dollars,” the Minister asserted.
This disclosure of an investigation into the illegal spending by the former Coalition Government comes on the heels of an ongoing probe into the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme thus far revealing that over $250 million cannot be accounted for.
Minister Dharamlall had disclosed this on Wednesday in the National Assembly when Mahipaul had questioned the allocation of some $105 million for the programme.
“SLED is a project under this Ministry, because we want to reach out to communities to rebuild lives. I must indicate to you that when we conduct the audit of SLED in its previous life, many on the Opposition side are going to face prosecution,” the Minister said.
“Under the previous SLED, over $250 million last year, there is no record… As a matter of fact, our investigations have so far revealed that the paperwork for the $250 million last year, a lot of it was deposited at Haags Bosch,” Dharamlall added.
Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones is already under investigation for benefiting from the programme and not utilising the equipment procured for its intended purpose; that is, the establishment of a barber shop. The equipment has since been sized by the police.