–government members say

CONTRARY to reports that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has agreed to merge audit reports from 2017, 2018 and 2019, the government members of the committee have said that there has been no decision to this effect and the matter is yet to be discussed.

In a statement, the government members related that they have taken note of an article published online by Newsroom under the caption: “PAC to merge 2017, 2018 & 2019 audit reports,” particularly statements attributed to Chairman of the PAC, Jermaine Figueira, suggesting that the PAC has somehow agreed to merge the Auditor General’s reports for several years.

“We wish to categorically state that no decision has been taken to merge any audit reports as is being suggested by Mr. Figueira. The matter was raised by Mr. Figueira at the last meeting of the PAC where he attempted to rule on the matter unilaterally, but was rebuffed by the government members of the committee,” the government members said.

The matter was placed on the agenda by the Chairman and is expected to be fiercely debated at the next meeting of the PAC on Monday, December 6, 2021.
“We, therefore, call on Mr. Figueira to withdraw his inaccurate assertions forthwith,” the government members said.