Guyana needs new Public Procurement Act – accountant

Accountant Nigel Hinds has said the current Public Procurement Act (PPA) should be replaced at the earliest time possible, since there are several loopholes which allow for breaches, hence undermining the functions of the Act.
Hinds shared this observation while addressing a pre-budget symposium hosted by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG). He told the stakeholders that a dysfunctional Public Procurement Act compounds problems in the National Budget delivery, and added that the Act is a hindrance to the execution of the budget.

“Problems in the National Budget delivery are compounded by a dysfunctional Public Procurement Act. It seems to me that the Public Procurement Act is a hindrance to the execution of the budget… The Public Procurement Act needs to be replaced yesterday. It is abused. It is not functional…much of this comes back to the leadership, or the lack of it,” Hinds opined.
While addressing stakeholders on the key requirements for the preparation of the National Budget, Hinds stated that the budget is an extension of the Constitution in action. He added that it should have no place for bigotry and prejudice, as related in Article 15 of the Constitution.
He noted that the National Budget goes beyond arithmetic and accounting, since it also requires competence and proper management of skills and resources in its delivery.
“Promises are the equivalent of commitments given in a budget, and Government should ensure that their promises made in a National Budget, as in an election manifesto, are implemented,” the accountant said.
“There really is not much difference in between the two in a political landscape. The key concerns we would like to see come out of the budget are: an objective and unbiased approach in the provision of expenditures that accommodate Guyanese in the most beneficial manner across the length and width of Guyana; focus on investing in people, especially the underprivileged, unemployed, and the working class; implementation of a forward-looking budget bereft of political partisan agendas; and use of the National Budget for the funding of perspective and tit-for-tat policies,” he added.
Hinds also told stakeholders that the Government is yet to provide adequate reasoning behind its decision to cut the budget proposal for various autonomous agencies.
On Friday last, sparks flew in the National Assembly when Finance Minister Winston Jordan refused to provide detailed justifications, or even a macro-economic outlook, to justify cutting the sums budgeted for by constitutional agencies.
According to the 2018 annual budget proposals of Constitutional agencies, which were tabled in Parliament last week, the Audit Office’s request for $844.4 million was slashed to a proposal of $783.8 million. In slashing the amount, it was noted that Budget 2018’s submission did not fulfil certain requirements set out in a budget circular.
The need has been expressed for the Audit Office to be as strong as possible when it comes to its audit capacity. This is especially so as Guyana gets ready to enter oil production. In addition, Auditor General Deodat Sharma has already expressed intention to audit Guyana’s environmental protection systems.
Other agencies on the chopping block for 2018 were the Parliament Office, the GECOM, the Supreme Court of Judicature (request for $2.7 billion was reduced to $1.8 billion), the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (request for $223.8 million was reduced to $174.2 million) and the Office of the Ombudsman.