Deodat Sharma
Dr Bheri Ramsaran
Approximately Gy$ 37.3 million is still to be recovered by government for overpayment of salaries since 2007 to present, the auditor general said in his latest report on the Public Accounts of Guyana.
The report has indicated that overpayment of salaries remains a major concern and a poor recovery system has resulted in the funds being outstanding. “The slow processing of pay change directives in several ministries and mainly in the regions resulted in overpayment of salaries, including deductions totalling Gy$ 37.389 million still to be recovered for the years 2007-2012,” the report stated.
It was indicated that ministries, departments and regions continue to experience serious challenges in recovering the sums, mainly because banking institutions require the authorisation of account holders and statutory agencies. “The Guyana Revenue Authority and National Insurance Scheme have not fully complied with requests to refund sums overpaid,” the auditor general report pointed out.
The Health Ministry has not been able to recover the outstanding amounts totalling Gy$ 1.6 million, which were overpaid to employees during 2007 and 2011. In 2012, the report said five transactions relating to pay change directives for dismissals and resignations were forwarded subsequent to the deadline, resulting in overpayments of salaries totalling Gy$ 604, 925.
Defence
In its defence, the Health Ministry indicated that letters were issued requesting refunds from the various agencies.
“The National Insurance Scheme requested more information for the year which we were unable to provide because our records were destroyed by the fire in 2009. We had to seek alternative source like the Public Service Commission for more information,” the subject ministry explained.
The Audit Office recommended that the head of the budget agency of the Health Ministry renews effort to engage deduction agencies, with the hope of recovering the amounts overpaid.
Overpayment to contractors was another issue highlighted by the Audit Office.
According to the report, ministries, departments and regions have been overpaying contractors for projects that were measured.
It comes at a time when these organs are facing serious challenges in the recovery process.
“Some of these ministries and regions continued to have overpayments on various contracts – 2012 and prior years.”
According to the report, the Health Ministry overpaid Gy$ 15.7 million for a single contract.
It was explained that the contract for the construction of an Acute Psychiatric Hospital in Region Six was awarded in 2011 at the cost of Gy$ 112.739 million. However, by the end of 2011, the contractor received approximately Gy$ 80.168 million, while other amounts totalling Gy$ 11.755 million were paid in 2012. In total, Gy$ 91.923 million was issued for the stalled project.
The auditor general, however, expressed dissatisfaction in a number of areas, pointing out that overpayment remains an issue.
