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Trotman said the fact that the report being delivered is for the year 2011 is a tremendous landmark achieved. He noted that there was a time when reports were not tabled for decades, and even when they were tabled, they were often late.
“The fact that the Auditor General has brought us up-to-date is, I believe, a very commendable effort,” he said, congratulating Auditor General Deodat Sharma and his staff for their work and the timely delivery of the report.
In receiving the report, Trotman stated that the National Assembly will resume session sometime after October 10th, and the report will be laid promptly and immediately, so the Public Accounts Authority can begin combing through it.
He also noted that it will be a public exercise, except on occasions when committee members decide that they need to have confidential discussions.
The report was then promptly handed over to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, who is expected to keep it “under lock and key” in a vault until it is time for it to be laid in the National Assembly.
Sharma said the Audit Office has responsibility to present the Audit Report and the Public Accounts of Guyana by the 30th September following the close of the financial year; and for the past two years, that office has met those statutory demands.
He advised that staff membership for the audit office has increased from 163 in September, 2011 to approximately 200; and that by 2013, staff membership should meet the authorized strength of 227 persons.
“This increase in staff definitely would greatly assist in bringing the backlog audits up to date. I have now brought the Public Accounts audit up to date, therefore I will try to now bring all those, like the NDCs and other corporations that we are auditing, up to date also,” he said.
Sharma also revealed that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has given the audit office a technical corporation grant of US$325,000., which will be used to enhance the professional audit practice and standards of the audit office.
Moreover, the grant will help to build staff capacity in forensic accounting and investigation, and will be used to strengthen the audit office’s information technology system capacity, including improvement of its infrastructure and communication capabilities.
The Auditor General further disclosed that staff members of the office have embarked on a public awareness programme to let the public know what they are doing in terms of where they are with their work.
He said the office is currently conducting a number of investigations, such as at the Deeds Registry, the Supreme Court, and the Mayor and City Council; and according to him, these reports are expected to be ready shortly.
