–2019 Audit Report reveals

SOME $115.931 million that was previously handed over to the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) for the encashment of old-age pension vouchers still remain unaccounted for, and will most likely have to be written off as unrecoverable since the Audit Office has deemed the reconciliation practically impossible.

The unaccounted sum was among several issues dealt with when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) resumed meetings on Monday.

The committee deliberated on matters in the 2019 Audit Report under the former Ministry of Social Protection now Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS).

According to the 2019 Audit Report, at the end of December 2019, records showed that the GPOC owed the ministry $944.367 million; however, the corporation’s records showed its balance as owing $732.684 million, a difference of $211.683 million.

Included in the $211.683 million was a recurring balance of $115.931 million deemed an unreconciled difference, and used as a balancing figure.

Officials from the MoHSSS and Auditor General Deodat Sharma were grilled by PAC member, and Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill on Monday, as he sought answers regarding efforts to reconcile the $115.931 million, and what steps are being taken to avoid future recurrence.

“How do we account if this is still outstanding? Why do we still have $115 million not reconciled? What occurred that led to this occurring?” Minister Edghill questioned.

Permanent Secretary of the MoHSSS, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar acknowledged that there were lots of errors with the ministry’s cash books, and going back for a number of years, the books were not balanced or prepared properly.

However, she affirmed that the books are being balanced correctly from month to month. The ministry currently has a total of 72,441 pensioners in its system, with old-age pension currently being $33,000 per month.

A former Chairman of the GPOC, Edghill gave a reminder that some years ago a decision was taken to close the MoHSSS’ ongoing accounts and effectively draw a red line and restart the ministry’s books to ensure transparent accounting, going forward.

He questioned how the ministry could still continue to be plagued with issues in its transactions with the GPOC.

The MoHSSS issues monthly vouchers for old-age pensions to Guyanese who are 65 years and older, with the pensioners being able to cash their vouchers at post offices across the country.
The MoHSSS provides the GPOC with the money for encashment of the vouchers, and the GPOC has to account for the money against the vouchers that are paid out.

In 2010, over 20 GPOC employees were made to repay over $1 million that was defrauded from the post office.

Minister Edghill said that aside from the MoHSSS, the GPOC also encashes vouchers for the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), and there have never been cases of unreconciled amounts between GPOC and the NIS.

He, therefore, could not comprehend why the issue was occurring with the MoHSSS. Turning to Sharma, Edghill asked if he had any answers regarding why the ministry’s books, as regards the GPOC, still continued to have difficulties.

“With regards [sic] to paragraph 1,022, I would like to get an update from you on what is happening, what are the findings and why are we still here?” Edghill asked.

Sharma explained that the $115.931 million represented a total of unreconciled differences across a number of years, and reconciliation has not been possible as the post office cannot provide validated documentation for the monies.

“The information that the post office is providing is uncertain. They have figures there of who owes who, but they are disclaimed figures. We were able to bring the audit of the post office up to 2021,” Sharma said.

The Auditor General, however, agreed that reconciling the amounts was a lost cause, as it was now “difficult if not impossible to complete,” given the current situation.

Edghill asked PAC Chairman Jermaine Figueira to flag the situation in the PAC report as a matter of urgency that needs to be remedied.
“We can’t have this situation continuing,” Edghill said.