Guyana still waiting on CCTV system purchased by APNU/AFC

5 years later

This month marks five years since the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government spent $19 million to purchase Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras and according to Auditor General Deodat Sharma, they are yet to be delivered.
In his 2019 report, which was released on Wednesday, the Auditor General noted that the CCTV system was purchased since 2015 for the National Intelligence Centre and had not been delivered up to the time of the report.
“However, it was noted that the Ministry had engaged the Attorney General’s office on this matter,” the Auditor General wrote in his report, adding that the then Ministry of the Presidency, since renamed the Office of the President, had informed him that it was following up with the Attorney General’s chambers on the matter.
In his recommendations, the Auditor General urged the Head of the Budget Agency to follow up with the Attorney General’s office on the matter and to ensure that an update on the five-year matter was submitted.
These very CCTV cameras, which were purchased in December 2015 with monies taken from the Contingency Fund for an “emergency”, were subject to questions in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament back in 2017.
At the time, the Ministry of the Presidency’s Permanent Secretary, Abena Moore was called to give account for the status of the undelivered equipment, which was sole sourced from US company Moonblink Communications.
While she had insisted that the contract, was an emergency one, then PAC member and Opposition parliamentarian Juan Edghill (who is now the Minister of Public Works) had at the time disagreed with her.
He had noted that the contract could not have been such an emergency if over a year had passed without the items being delivered. December 31, 2017 marked over two years since the contract was signed. It is further understood that the company has since declared bankruptcy.
There are strict rules governing the Contingency Fund. But in the 2015 Auditor General report, it was found that Government made withdrawals that totalled over $900 million from the Fund. Besides the money for the CCTV cameras, monies were also used for expenses related to the Army, the D’Urban Park Project, and the infamous Sussex Street bond.
According to Section 220 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana, “Parliament may make provision for the establishment of a Contingencies Fund and for authorising the Minister responsible for finance to make advances from that Fund if he is satisfied that there is an urgent need for expenditure for which no other provision exists.”
Section 220 (2) goes on to say that “Where any advance is made from the Contingencies Fund, a supplementary estimate shall, as soon as practicable, be laid before the National Assembly by Prime Minister or any other Minister designated by the President for the purpose of authorising the replacement of the amount so advanced”.
In addition, Section 41 (3) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act states, “The Minister, when satisfied that an urgent, unavoidable and unforeseen need for expenditure has arisen – (a) for which no monies have been appropriated or for which the sum appropriated is insufficient; (b) for which monies cannot be reallocated as provided for under this Act; or (c) which cannot be deferred without injury to the public interest, may approve a Contingencies Fund advance as an expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund by the issuance of a drawing right.”