HGP Nightly News – Government members of the Public Accounts Committee have asked for more time to consider an APNU proposal to fast-track the examination of the Auditor General’s reports for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The request prompted the committee on Monday to defer a decision on whether the three reports should be examined together.
APNU Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul said the proposal will return to the agenda when the PAC meets again on July 27.
APNU’s plan is intended to help the committee tackle a years-long backlog in the scrutiny of public spending. The PAC is still working through outstanding sections of the Auditor General’s 2019 report, even as later reports await examination.
Combining the 2020, 2021 and 2022 reports could move the process along more quickly. It could also place a heavier workload on a committee already struggling to catch up. Government members have not rejected the proposal, but their request for additional time means a decision will have to wait.
The committee agreed to continue examining the remaining paragraphs of the 2019 report while the proposal is under consideration.
Members also decided that meeting dates will be set at the end of each sitting. The next meeting has been confirmed for July 27.
Another APNU proposal, to begin reconstituting the Public Procurement Commission, will also return as a substantive agenda item at that meeting.
APNU wants the committee to start the statutory process by advertising for suitably qualified persons to apply for appointment to the commission.
The PPC is responsible for monitoring public procurement and investigating complaints about the award of government contracts. Its reconstitution is therefore closely tied to wider concerns about transparency and oversight of public expenditure.
Mahipaul described Monday’s meeting as productive and said it was conducted in a constructive spirit.
The committee’s next sitting will test that cooperation. Members will have to decide whether to combine three years of audit reviews while continuing their unfinished examination of the 2019 accounts. They must also determine whether to begin rebuilding the country’s public procurement watchdog.
Mahipaul expressed hope that the PAC would continue working to strengthen parliamentary oversight, accountability and the prudent management of public resources.
