THE Office of the Auditor General is having quite a difficult time making sure public funds are properly spent over at the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Auditor General Deodat Sharma highlighted as much in his most recent report.

The Auditor General noted that back in November 2017, the APNU+AFC Cabinet gave its approval for a grant of $475.635 million to be disbursed to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council through the Ministry of Communities.

The money was disbursed, but the City Council has been unable to provide the necessary documents to prove how it spent the sum.

The Auditor General reported that his office was still unable to verify the completeness, accuracy and validity of amounts totalling $374.545 million.

The funds were reportedly paid to contractors for sanitisation services provided to the City Council.

Sharma reported that only this year, the City Council submitted three contract agreements, two for Puran Brothers and one for Cevon’s Waste Management Inc.

“In addition, invoices totalling $101.090 million were also submitted pertaining to Dartmouth Skip Rental Inc. and Cevon’s Waste Management Inc.,” the Auditor General said.

Being that the money was disbursed from the now Ministry of Local Government, which used to be the Ministry of Communities, Sharma’s observations were highlighted under that ministry. However, the ministry is holding no responsibility for M&CC’s inability to submit relevant documents.

The Ministry of Local Government responded to the Auditor General, saying that the management of the Georgetown Municipality was informed to locate and present all relevant documentation to the Audit Office for examination.

The Audit Office has recommended that the ministry follow up with the Council to have the pertinent documents submitted for audit.