The awarding by the APNU+AFC government of major contracts close to year-end to exhaust budgetary allocations is a serious breach of financial laws, says former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran and he has warned that officials involved could be held liable.

In his Development Watch column in Monday’s Stabroek News, Goolsarran recalled that on 30 December 2019, one day before the close of the fiscal year, a Cabinet sub-committee noted the award of 57 contracts, the majority of which relate to new infrastructure works and the procurement of items of a capital nature. This followed an earlier report that on 23 December 2019, the sub-committee had noted the proposed award of 54 contracts.

He noted that amid concerns that such a large number of contracts were awarded so close to year-end, a senior government official stated that the funds to be used were provided for under the 2019 Estimates.