Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran

Inauguration spending

Pressure is mounting on the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) government to end the secrecy on the profligate spending on events leading up to and including the grand Presidential inauguration ceremony at the Providence National Stadium.

Even after being drilled by the media on the matter at various forums, government ministers have continued to stonewall on providing details about the issue.

Questions submitted in parliament by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition on this public concern received ambiguous responses from government.

Dr Henry Jeffrey

During a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Sunday, political commentator and former Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey forthrightly stated that government is obligated to make public the information on this matter and all matters of similar nature, especially now, given the magnitude of confusion surrounding the inauguration spending.

“The government should provide the public with what they spent. Is that a big thing for them to do? I don’t think it should be. Why is it so difficult for them to give the amount of resources spent and say where the resources came from? I don’t understand.” Dr Jeffrey stated.

He reminded that the coalition campaigned on the matter of transparency and accountability and against this backdrop, drew the conclusion that government does not practice what it preaches.

“I mean, you campaigned on talking about transparency and all of that… I read the various articles in the press, but I still can’t understand what is their problem… they should provide the accounts and they should be transparent,” he noted.

Additionally, this publication spoke to former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran, a public supporter of the APNU/AFC, who also does not comprehend the apparent concealment over the matter. He too urged government to come clean on the inauguration spending issue, noting the administration is required by law to make these disclosures public.

“It is in keeping with our laws… any government department or government agency who receives gifts are required to value them and to bring them into account into the books of the ministry and to inform the auditor general so he can bring to account the value of these gifts into the public accounts,” Goolsarran stated.

He went on to say government is mandated by law to periodically make these disclosures public. He noted that the inauguration events took place since May yet to date no information has been released to the public on the matter, in spite of enormous public interest on this concern.

Nonetheless, Goolsarran said government can still make amends by publicly disclosing the answers before the New Year.

Conflicting reports

A number of conflicting reports are emanating from government regarding the inauguration spending.

Initially, State Minister Joseph Harmon had disclosed that government contributed minimally to the inauguration activities but the majority of the financial expense were covered by donations from private individuals.

Thereafter, on the final day of the Budget Estimates, Minister Henry succumbed to pressure from questions sprung by PPP/C Member of Parliament Charles Ramson Jr and revealed that millions of dollars were spent on the ceremony at the National Stadium.

Ramson had asked the Minister about a particular allocation under “subsidies and contributions to local organisations” under “Cultural Preservation and Conservation” within the Education Ministry and she disclosed that the money was spent on the inauguration ceremony and the T20 matches held in Guyana.

The PPP/C, after being denied the opportunity to further prompt the Minister on this matter in that moment, had submitted a list of questions to the government seeking clarification on the issue.

But the response, government through its Education Ministry, Department of Culture Youth and Sport, stated that no monies were spent from government coffers on the events.

The PPP/C had asked government to provide a detailed list of all the costs incurred in relation to, and in preparation for, the Presidential Inauguration events held at Parliament Buildings, Independence Arch, National Stadium, Pegasus Hotel, and elsewhere, including the clean-up campaign that preceded those events.

The Ministry’s response is: “the Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, Youth and Sport was not required to provide any financial, technical, nor in-kind support in preparation for the Presidential Inauguration events held at Parliament Buildings, Independence Arch in Brickdam, Pegasus Hotel, and elsewhere, including the clean-up campaign that preceded those events.”

It remains unclear why government redirected the questions to the Education Ministry from the Finance Ministry.

Nonetheless, subsequently, Governance Minister Raphael Trotman was prompted on the matter during a post-cabinet press briefing. He revealed that some $1 million was spent from government while the other monies were from donations.

During the Budget debates, the Minister had said “Government had spent approximately $1 million and all monies beyond that had come from private contributions and companies.”          Trotman made this comment despite the position of his colleague, Junior Education Minister with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Nicolette Henry who stated in her Ministry’s response that no State monies were spent to fund inauguration activities.

Nevertheless, Trotman assured that government will soon make this information public.

“We are now in the process of compiling that list and I see no reason why Government should not share, to the best of its abilities, how that list is populated in terms of how much. Some persons have expressed a view that their donations of contributions were to be anonymous, but I believe that in the best way as possible we will provide, once the tally is made,” Trotman said.