The Guyana Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), a think-tank of financial professionals who have been analysing successive budgets from the Government, is of the view that funds were so poorly allocated that few will benefit from any trickledown effect.
This is expressed in the group’s report, ‘Guyana; Taxpayers lost almost G$1 Billion to Financial waste and abuse at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure over two years’. According to the report, the Public Infrastructure Ministry was flagged for almost G$1 billion in financial mismanagement, waste, abuse, and non-compliance with the law.
Described as their first in a series of reports, the group noted that there are projects which lack clear compliance with procurement regulations, and a clear benefit to the public. Here they zoomed in on the controversial D’Urban Park project. According to the report, the project should have been facilitated through a public tender process.
“For example, the G$409 million spent on the controversial D’Urban Park development project, a project with no clear public benefit, was paid to a special purpose company (Homestretch) Development Inc,” the think-tank cites in its report.
The report also noted that the inefficiency at the Ministry has cost tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet, they observed, there is little public awareness on how tax payer funds are actually spent every year.
“The misspending of public funds represents a significant loss to tax payers and the economy. Taxpayers are deprived of the opportunities that these expenditures were intended to create. The total of almost 41 billion could pay for a new public road from Georgetown to Mahaica, or retain 500 sugar workers on a monthly salary.”
It noted that the 2018 Budget was presented under the theme “the Journey to the Good Life Continues,” but unfortunately, this is not referring to children, farmers and sugar workers; other low-skilled workers, or low-income families – the biggest losers in the budget.
“At a time when 50 per cent of children and 40 per cent of adults are living in poverty, budget 2018 represents a missed opportunity for the Government to reduce poverty and give struggling families a chance at success,” it stated.
It also noted that while the budget included additional funding for education, and set aside some funding for affordable housing, these allocations are too insignificant to meaningfully impact the livelihood of families struggling to make ends meet.
According to the group’s website, the think-tank was founded last year by Economist and Executive Director Dhanraj Singh, a former Lecturer at the University of Guyana. Its Chief Financial Officer is Boamattie Singh, who holds a Masters in Accounting from the College of Saint Rose in New York. Also on board the think-tank is Susan Botros, a Policy Analyst.
Last year, the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Irfaan Ali, had requested further probing be done by the Auditor General into specific projects. Among those projects was the D’Urban Park Project, for which the AG, in his 2015 report, listed some G$36.5 million in Lotto funds being used for rehabilitative works.
Ali had stated that these requests were in relation to follow-ups from the findings that had been included in the AG’s 2015 Report. In his 2015 Report, the Auditor General had said that following checks on the accounts, it was found that while Government transferred G$1 billion of the Lotto money to the Consolidated Fund in 2015, it held onto just over half a billion dollars to remain under the control of the Ministry of the Presidency, and it spent G$305 million on various activities.
But the audit into the D’Urban Park project has previously been hindered by a lack of access to pertinent information, with the Audit Office being forced to write to the Public Infrastructure Ministry requesting documents.
This was revealed by Auditor General Deodat Sharma, who spoke to the media after handing over his 2016 report.
According to Sharma, he wrote to the Ministry requesting information on Homestretch Development Inc.
Notwithstanding the trouble to access information, however, Sharma had stated that the audit was still ongoing.
In January, Sharma subsequently stated in sections of the media that records from the company are yet to be provided, and that when a request was made to the Permanent Secretary of the Public Infrastructure Ministry, he had pleaded ignorance.
In the report, Sharma had related that while he intended to write to the company, he would wrap up his audit by year end, with or without the documents.
