“Release the reports now” – Jagdeo urges Govt

Forensic Audits…

– says theft of public resources claim is “nonsense”

BY EDWARD LAYNE

“Release the reports, let people comment on the reports, all these audit reports, so if you are getting them, release them

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

to the country.” Those were the sentiments expressed by Leader of the Opposition and former President Bharrat Jagdeo in the face of failure by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government to make public the findings of the forensic audits of state agencies. After months, or even years, of a hue and cry about widespread corruption in many state agencies and projects under the former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, the APNU/AFC upon assuming office back in May 2015, launched a series of forensic audits costing the nation hundreds of millions of dollars. But six months later, the Government is still to make public the audit reports, especially for agencies such as the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), which the APNU and AFC while in Opposition accused of massive corruption. “We have not heard anything about the Hope Canal, because they said it was corrupt and it was useless, so where is the audit report for the Hope Canal too. They should release the NICIL report and the response by NICIL the other audit reports,” Jagdeo told a news conference on Saturday at the PPP headquarters, Robb Street, Georgetown. Jagdeo highlight that the only audit report to be released thus far is that of the Caribbean Festival of Arts 10 (CARIFESTA X), hosted by Guyana from August 22-31, 2008. However, it is believed that this release was convenient, since the accounting officer at the then Culture Youth and Sport

Finance Minister Winston Jordon

Ministry, Keith Booker died a few years ago and therefore there can be no response to the audit queries. Jagdeo said that while his position remains that the forensic Auditors Christopher Ram and Annand Goolsarran do not have the integrity to conduct the audits, he is still eagerly awaiting the publication of the findings, which he is convinced will vindicate the PPP/C’s long held position that this exercise was unwarranted and baseless. “They have started off this course of action, then you have to ask them what they are doing, because we would like to see the findings although some of the people who are doing the audits are the accusers and the accusers should not be doing the audits. Now that you have done the audits why not release it?” Jagdeo questioned, adding that, “I know a lot of what we have heard was about theft of public resources through NICIL and through the Hope Canal etc… that’s a lot of nonsense.”

Jagdeo had always made it clear that he is supportive of the forensic audits, but had concerns about the Auditors – Goolsarran and Ram – and their integrity to do an impartial job. “We in the PPP will support any forensic audit but for a forensic audit to be fair and to do its work to find corruption, you have to have the skills to do that and I submit that these two persons, they are political operatives. They do not have the skills to practice forensic audits… We are in favour of hiring a reputable international company, in a transparent process to do this, to do forensic audits of all of our accounts,” Jagdeo had declared in a televised programme of TVG-Ch28 back in August. Jagdeo had previously questioned the objective of the audit, highlighting that the process was being used for political gains by the Government. “Normally when you do an audit, you get all your findings and you submit a management letter and the management responds to your findings… But everyday they are releasing little bits to the newspapers to make it a political process,” he highlighted. The Government has been flip-flopping regarding the real reason behind the forensic audits of several State agencies. When it was first initiated, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had declared that the aim was to ascertain how the assets of the State were sold, disposed of or transferred under the previous Administration, adding that those found guilty will face criminal charges. However, Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma disclosed that one of the reasons why the Government is commissioning audits was to satisfy the demands of the donor agencies and the international community. He explained that before the APNU+AFC coalition got into Government, the international community indicated several expectations it had of the new Government. “The demands for this new Administration are a lot. We have to fulfil these demands, in areas of accountability and transparency… We aren’t doing this because we want to spend money or we want to witchhunt anybody… it’s a demand and request from these agencies that transparency and accountability must be available,” he noted. He added that if the Government did not perform the financial audits, it would not have the financial support of the international bodies. This statement was received with expressions of great incredulity by members of the local business and financial community when it was published. Finance Minister Jordan, however, attempted to backpedal from his Junior Minister’s statement and explained that the international community did not actually demand the forensic audits, but they did throw their support behind the initiative. He said the APNU+AFC coalition had discussions with members of the international community, including the British High Commission, the Canadian High Commission, the European Union and the Inter-American  Development Bank (IDB), to name a few, and they all spoke of the need for accountability and transparency.