The Auditor General’s report on the country’s Public Accounts for 2008 presented to the Speaker of National Assembly and now made public, is replete with numerous financial violations by various agencies of the administration.Among the glaring pronouncements was that the fact that contingency fund had been debited more than $670M for expenditures that did not satisfy the criteria required by law. The report called it a continued abuse of the Contingency Fund which caters for unexpected issues of national interest that require Government intervention.According to the report, persons at the Customs and Trade Administration perpetrated some 51 fraudulent transactions that resulted in the theft of $108M in 2008, while another 161 incidents took place in 2009 resulting in the loss of another $193M.It is also pointed out in the report that over $19.4B is held in accounts that are either defunct or not meant to hold those funds pending transfer while the former Consolidated Fund bank account was overdrawn by some $48.9B.This account however is not the only overdrawn one as is illustrated by the Auditor General either, there were 42 accounts deemed inactive carrying overdrafts totaling $685.9M, two dozen of which each exceed the $1M mark.A number of accounts which should have been closed as a result of the implementation of the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) such as the former Consolidated Fund bank account No. 400, were not.“It still exists along with the General Account No. 405 and the Non-Sub Accounting Ministries and Departments Bank Account No. 3001 both used as intermediary accounts to allow for the disbursement of funds to Ministries and Non-Sub Accounting Ministries and Departments respectively.”According to the report, the figures for revenue estimates versus actual Government receipts for current and capital revenue displayed a positive variance of $1.9B and a negative variance of some $18.6B. The values for estimated expenditure against actual expenditure were $3.2B over and $4.5B under.The Report summarised the Audit findings at a Ministerial/Departmental/Regional Level, noting a number of discrepancies.Contract awards and payments upon scrutiny found that almost $58M had been overpaid to contractors and the issue of recovering the funds continues to pose a challenge to the agencies.“Even more troubling is the perceived managerial inaction in relation to this troubling trend,Jerseys NFL Cheap, since there was no evidence to suggest that disciplinary action of any kind have been meted out to engineering or other staff involved.”As it relates to tenders, there was also a plethora of procedural breaches such as in the case of Region Four where it was found that quotations were falsified and purchases made from persons not considered to be established suppliers.This resulted in the fraudulent disbursement of $6.9M in 2008 and over $21M in 2009.Appropriation accounts were also found to be overstated and misrepresented in a number of situations. There was the matter of salary overpayments as a result of delays in terms of initiating pay change directives.Fund recovery is influenced by the fact that banking institutions require the account holder’s consent to deduct funds. As such, it is a challenge to the agencies therein.Even statutory agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority and the National Insurance Scheme have not been in full compliance as it relates to requests to refund overpaid sums, according to the report. Some $68M is missing as a result of the salary discrepancies.The return of unexpended money allotted to subvention agencies also continues to be a feature in the Audit general reportsThe Ministry of Housing at the 2008 had some $309M unspent in its coffers. This sum was not returned to the Consolidated Fund but instead placed in a special bank account.“This placement subsequently resulted in the Capital Appropriation Account being overstated by the aforementioned amount at the end of the audit period.”Gifts to Ministries were another issue raised in the report where it was noted that a continued lack of reporting and accounting resulted in the Miscellaneous Receipts of $23M at the end of the audit period being understated by an “undetermined amount”.
