Strong message must be sent to accounting officers who flout laws – PAC

…as former PS under APNU/AFC paid contractor without contract

Monday’s session of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) saw the former Permanent Secretary of the Legal Affairs Ministry under the APNU/AFC Administration accepting culpability on behalf of the Ministry for breaches to the law and members of the PAC emphasising the need for a strong message to be sent to accounting officers.

The case involved works to upgrade the Legal Affairs Ministry’s electrical circuits to integrate solar power. According to the Auditor General’s 2019 report, works were done and payments made despite there being no contract.
It was explained that the contract was signed on July 29, 2019, over a month after the works were inspected and the defects liability period started. Usually, a contract is signed before contractors even mobilise to do work. Acting Permanent Secretary at the time, Joylyn Nestor-Burrowes, accepted culpability.
“To avoid major disruption of the Ministry’s work, the project was given some amount of urgency. We agreed we have breached the regulations,” Nestor-Burrowes explained, when being informed of the seriousness of the breach.

Tense exchange
Afterwards, the PAC emphasised the seriousness of the matter. PAC member Juretha Fernandes noted the importance of the committee sending a strong message. Also, PAC member Ganesh Mahipaul stressed that laws are there to be adhered to.
“Thank you, but I’m saying to you that it is not something that should be tolerated at any point in time and the fact remains that these checks and balances and systems that are in place that ought to be followed is not there as rubberstamps. What you did here was to clearly make the system a rubber stamp. That cannot be tolerated and must be [dealt with],” Mahipaul said.

A tense exchange would follow where the former Permanent Secretary took offensce to the line of questioning at the PAC. However, her protestations did not find many sympathetic ears at the PAC on either side of the aisle.
“[I’ve done] 35 years of exemplary service. I’m not promoting myself but I think I would have done well and that last question we had on that paragraph, I don’t think it should have been ventilated the way it [was]. Because some of us, sometimes we do not remember everything and it is human to err.”
“Sometimes I think the members should be professional with us and don’t let us feel as though we are criminals… we are doing things wrong deliberately. You don’t know how much I would have taken on that specific matter on that electrical work. I had so much headache when that happened. And to be taking blame for it, you don’t want to be throwing people under the bus.”
PAC member and Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira noted that the PAC was at no point disrespectful to the former PS. In his response, PAC Chairman Jermaine Figueira made it clear that the committee has a job to do, in making sure there is accountability in public spending.
“It’s regrettable that the PS would have concluded that from the members of this committee asking questions based on her response. And I too was led to believe that you had no involvement in this particular issue that you want to accuse members of attacking you. But as I would have indicated, I don’t believe the members were attacking you.”
“The members were seeking clarification, from an accounting officer who was responsible for the stewardship of a Ministry. And I want you to understand that we here as members of the PAC, have a duty to ensure that we hold accounting officers responsible in executing their mandate in relation to the letter of the law,” Figueira said. (G3)