CABINET on Tuesday approved approximately $6.9B in contracts to provide key services to the Guyanese people.And Head of Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, stressed that the Constitution, as well as the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, guides Government spending in the current circumstances – the absence of an Appropriation Act (Budget) and elections in the air.

“Public expenditure during this historic period is of course regulated by constitutional and statutory provisions, most specifically those captured in the FMAA (Fiscal Management and Accountability Act),” he said yesterday.
The Dissolution Proclamation, effective last Saturday, has activated the provisions of Article 219 (1) and combined the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, it provides that in any financial year the Government is empowered to spend one twelfth of the Budget of the preceding year in continuing to provide the normal services of the Government of Guyana, until an Appropriation Act is passed.
Additionally, after Elections, Article 219, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, will be activated to regulate expenditure, until a first budget is passed for the 11th parliament of Guyana.
According to Dr. Luncheon the laws of Guyana were structured in a manner to ensure the continued provision of services by the Government.
“I don’t think it was ever envisioned that in a situation like this, elections and no Appropriation Act in place, that indeed Government will come to a halt…the crafters of the Constitution of Guyana ensured that such a possibility never ensured,” he said.
As such, the HPS stated that the Minister of Finance have been delegated the authority to address expenditures on services for the Guyanese people.
“This is not new stuff…it has flowed unerringly since the 1980 Constitution,” he said.
Among these services, the contracts approved on Tuesday include: $17.9M for the procurement of one compact laser work station for the Port Mourant Ophthalmology Centre and $15.8M for the purchase of medical oxygen for health care institutions in Guyana.
Relative to the latter, Dr. Luncheon said, “I don’t think the need exists for us to go on the extreme and pick out what is clearly the intent of the Constitution to avoid. How can we say we will not provide oxygen because they do not have a Parliament?”
He added, “Do you think the man lying on a bed or the school children who need text books and exercise books will accept that ‘bannas we don’t have Parliament and we aint got a Budget’ so everything will be put on hold’?
“The framers of the Constitution clearly sought to avoid this….the framers of the Constitution did not say we have to hold a referendum to determine which category of current or capital expenditure fits the bill of routine Government operations and services. The Minister of Finance exercises that discretion.”
The other contracts that received Cabinet’s no-objection include: $87.1M for the procurement of a high density filing system for the Deeds Registry; $85.3M for the construction of a heavy duty access bridge at Belle West, West Bank Demerara (WBD); $49.5M for the upgrade of roads in Section ‘D’ Sophia; and US$2.1M on lots of reinforced concrete drains from Providence to Prospect on the East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Contracts above the $15M mark are taken to Cabinet for its no-objection. (Vanessa Narine)