–asks auditor-general to audit its accounts

THE Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Eight, Mr Rafel Downes,has been instructed

by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to put his “house in order”.
The admonition follows Downes’ alleged failure to act on many of the recommendations made by the PAC and the Auditor-General more than two years ago.
Downes, who is no stranger to controversy, appeared before the PAC on Monday at the Public Buildings.

It was during that meeting that PAC Chairman, Irfaan Ali, its members and the Ministry of Finance’s Dr. Hector Butts,expressed their frustration and disappointment with Downes’ behaviour. During his appearance, Downes made numerous excuses for not addressing critical issues relating to overpayment to contractors and matters involving the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

When the first matter involving overpayment of salaries and deductions was raised, it was revealed that though the REO was advised on the matter in 2015, the $267,750 and $349,169 for the years 2012 and 2013,respectively,were not recovered from the various deduction agencies.

According to the REO, the Regional Administration had written the relevant agencies last November with the aim of recovering the amounts that had been overpaid, but that to date, he has not received any response from them.
This being the case, the REO said he’s left no alternative but to dispatch regional officers to the various agencies to have the matter resolved.
But PAC members were not buying that, and rebuked him over his sloth in dealing with the matter.

Minister of Public Health, Ms Volda Lawrence, who is a member of the PAC, told Downes that his response was unacceptable, and that she sees no reason why he has to wait to return to the Region to send an officer to the agencies, which are in Georgetown, mind you, when he can do it himself while he is here in the city.

SHEER ‘GYAFF’
Bearing in mind that this was a recommendation that PAC had made since last year, Minister Lawrence dismissed Downes explanation as nothing but sheer “gyaff”; the same “gyaff” he had fed them back in 2016.
Upon being thus upbraided by Minister Lawrence, the REO then informed the PAC that a Personnel Officer from the RDC had visited the agencies in question but to no avail, and that as such he would have to take it upon himself to resolve the issue.
At this point, the Chairman reminded the Committee that this was the same commitment that the REO had made last year.

The REO’s mismanagement of the Region’s financial affairs was again brought into question when another issue involving overpayment to contractors surfaced. During the period 2011-2012, the RDC had overpaid six contractors in the sum of $4.710M.
Additionally, the Regional Administration is still to recover mobilisation advances totaling $4.072M paid on seven contracts which were terminated due to failure to complete works within the contractual period. In both cases, the REO contended that he wrote the contractors, but only one responded.

Despite their owing the Regional Administration, Downes told the PAC that five of the 11 contractors secured new contractors from the RDC in 2016. One of the contractors, Mr Nigel Forde, has more than $3M outstanding, with no real commitment thus far to have the monies repaid.
It was noted that an agreement should have been reached between the Regional Administration and the contractors for the recouping of the outstanding monies before additional contracts were signed.

In offering his opinion, PAC Member, Mr Charandass Persaud said the REO should have taken legal action against the errant contractors.

CONTRITE
After being repeatedly grilled by the members of the PAC, a contrite Downes apologised for his many lapses in judgement.
“Mr. Chairman, I have to apologise for my tardiness, but I have made very strong efforts to speak with the parties involved,” the REO said.

Given the REO’s inability to get things done in a timely manner, and the need for clarity, the Chairman asked that the Auditor-General, Mr Deodat Sharma,conduct an audit into overpayments made by the region, and the additional contracts offered to those in default.
The Finance Secretary, in expressing his frustration, said: “The Ministry has an open-door policy, yet the REO and his officials have yet to take advantage of this facility.”
By now exhausted as well as exasperated, the Chairman suspended the PAC meeting, and instructed the REO and his team to take the necessary actions to clear all outstanding issues.

Minutes after the meeting ended, Ali told reporters that the REO has shown no improvements when compared with 2016. “He seems not concerned at all about issues of transparency and accountability,” Ali posited, noting that Downes must make the necessary corrections before reappearing before the Committee.
“This same REO came last year; we gave him an opportunity to correct himself. He has not corrected himself, and, as you can see, the PAC has not taken this lightly; we have sent him back; we have given him specific timelines, and the Finance Secretary has now taken the matter up,” the Chairman said.

Weighing in on the issue, Minister Lawrence told reporters that Downes clearly has a problem with management.
“I don’t believe that he is a good manager,” she said. “I think in terms of the accounting processes, he knows them very well but not management.”
Minister of Communities, Mr Ronald Bulkan is expected to be briefed on the performance and “tardiness” of the Region Eight REO.

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Ms Valerie Adams-Patterson; Members of Parliament, Bishop Juan Edghill, Jermaine Figueira, Nigel Dharamlall, and Audwin Rutherford,were among those present.