ISSUES of questionable fuel consumption and expenditure by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were once again a topic at the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which met on Monday.

As the meeting convened, GDF Accounting Officer, Commander Vernon Burnette was questioned in relation to a single Mark X car racking up a fuel bill in excess of $3 million during 2017.

As flagged in the Auditor General’s 2017 report, this represented an average monthly fuel expenditure of $256,242, and just for one single vehicle.

According to Commander Burnett, the vehicle, outfitted with a 24cc capacity, was owned by the army for a number of years, and was assigned to a “very senior officer”, who was holding “an external appointment” during the period under scrutiny.

“This car was meant to take care of his administrative duties for his family and his professional responsibilities; he, at the time, was the Head of the Defence Secretariat,” Commander Burnette informed the PAC.

He explained that initially, the GDF was concerned with the expenses; however, investigations into the fuel expenditure of the now-dead colonel resulted in the purchases and use being accounted for.

When asked, Commander Burnette said that he was satisfied with the accounts on the fuel purchase for the particular vehicle. He noted too that investigations show that there were multiple cases where the driver of the vehicle failed to accurately record trips made using the vehicle.

“What we found also is that the driver was not accounting for every single move from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’,” the GDF official noted.

Commander Burnette said that since the 2017 complication, the GDF has hosted a number of seminars and workshops to ensure that drivers improve on their record-keeping duties.

“We have been enforcing the full accountability of every use of the vehicle,” Burnette said, adding that there has since been an increase in records entered into the Force’s transportation register.

Burnette also informed the PAC that the particular Mark X, which had become known for consuming large amounts of fuel, has since been taken out of operations and is slated to be auctioned off.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Juretha Fernandes, also raised questions as to whether the documentation of all movements would be in breach of national safety and security. The PAC was then reminded that it is for this reason that details relating to movements of certain officers are not documented. Nonetheless, Commander Burnette assured that measures have been put in place to ensure that overspending on fuel and other supplies are curtailed.