–stresses that monies were approved by Parliament

KAIETEUR News found itself in hot water again yesterday, when Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, blasted it for the contents of an article published on Thursday under the headline, ‘Speaker concerned about Govt’s continued abuse of emergency fund’.

The article took one word, ‘worried’, from an observation made sometime by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman, and linked that word to the 2010 and 2011 Auditor-General’s Reports, and comments made by the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Shadow Finance Minister, Mr. Carl Greenidge.
According to the article at reference, “If Government deems a situation an emergency, they would use the funds. The Parliament would then examine during a sitting whether the situation for which the funds were used was actually an emergency according to the law.”

‘It is nice to say ‘abuse’, but what do the facts say? Where is the ‘abuse’ that this front-page headline is screaming about?’ – Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh

It was this very point that was used by Dr. Singh to flay the ‘daily’ for being unable to “set aside the sound bites” that make for “salacious” reporting and acknowledge the facts. “It is extremely unfortunate when a technical issue is distorted for the purpose of scoring cheap political points,” he said.

PASSED BY PARLIAMENT
He noted that it was strange to hear certain comments coming from Greenidge when in fact 92.6 per cent of the monies, which was included in the only six financial papers for spending from the Contingency Fund in the 10th Parliament, where the Opposition has the majority, were approved by the National Assembly.

Noting that the sums on the six financial papers totalled $9.4B, and $8.7B was approved by the House, Dr Singh said, “The PAC Chairman, opportunistically, is saying there is abuse, but his Party approved the spending in Parliament.”
Asked if any of the monies were intended for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Dr Singh said the amount was 20 per cent of the total that was approved, some $1.8B.
He was most emphatic that the approval from the National Assembly is an effective endorsement by Members of Parliament (MPs) of the use of the Contingency Fund. “It is nice to say ‘abuse’,” he said, “but what do the facts say? Where is the ‘abuse’ that this front-page headline is screaming about?”
Spending from the Contingency Fund, he noted, is voted on by the National Assembly, and reported on by the Minister of Finance to the said Body.
Dr. Singh also addressed concerns expressed in the Auditor General’s report, and while making no attempt to justify the shortcomings that were the subject of said concerns, he pointed out that such queries are the norm in even the most advanced of bureaucracies.
The last expenditure from the Contingency Fund was made through Financial Paper Four of 2013, which was considered by the National Assembly in the latter part of January 2014. It reflected a $1.1B advance for current and capital expenditures made from the Contingency Fund for the period 2013-11-06 to 2013-12-31.
The listed expenditures on this Paper are in relation to: Additional electricity subsidy to LINMINE (the Linden Electricity Company Inc) and Kwakwani Utilities Inc; a clean-up campaign in Georgetown; payment of additional stipend and tuition fees for Government of Guyana-sponsored students; the execution of additional drainage and irrigation works; providing additional support to Transport and Harbour’s Department; and clean up exercise at schools within the Georgetown District following heavy rainfall, among others. A provision for assistance to Philippines following typhoon Haiyan, Somalia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica was also included on the paper. The financial paper’s entire sum was approved by the House.

(By Vanessa Narine)