David Patterson
A number of financial papers were on Monday debated and passed in the National Assembly, but not before the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government came under criticism for the line items the Consolidated Fund was used to fund.
The first paper was Financial Paper No 2 of 2019, with a total sum of $4.150 billion. This paper was eventually passed after the Committee of Supply had examined it. However, the former APNU/AFC Government was criticised for the manner in which the monies were spent.
For instance, the former Public Infrastructure Ministry was criticised for appropriating $40 million to effect repairs to two generator sets at Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini). According to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who was responding to questions from none other than his predecessor David Patterson, the sets were non-functioning when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) entered office.
“Because of the PPP’s intervention since coming to office, all the generators in the hinterland communities are functioning. But when we took office, Matthews Ridge was without power for months. Port Kaituma was suffering. Mabaruma was suffering. Kwakwani was having power four, five hours a day.
“The mismanagement by the APNU/AFC led to that state of suffering in the interior. But they are all now functioning because of the intervention of the PPP/C since we came to office,” the Minister said.
Edghill was also quizzed by the former Minister about an allocation of $1.710 billion for sea defence works on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) at Fairfield and Dantzig, as well as emergency works at Blankenburg, Retrieve, Leguan and Wakenaam.
It was pointed out by Edghill, however, that these extrabudgetary allocations taken by the former Government did little to alleviate the breaches in the sea defence, since the PPP/C came into office and had to do more works in order to repair the breaches.
“The engineers came to Parliament with a programme for $1.4 billion, which the Parliament approved. And we spent the $1.4 billion and then we went on after March 2020 to spend an additional $1.7 billion in what we call emergency works and still when we inherited government, we had to make interventions in same area.”
Financial Paper No 2 of 2019 was eventually passed after the Committee of Supply had examined it. A similar process was also followed for Financial Paper No 1 of 2020, which was in the sum of $792.3 million.
Included in this amount was $6.5 million to purchase 15 motorcycles for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) under the current Government. Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn informed the House of the deplorable conditions the Government found many of the motorcycles in when it entered office.
“The Guyana Police Force identified for us the urgent need for motorcycles, given the fact that many of the motorcycles they have which were operational are in a dilapidated, non-operational state in their mechanic shops. The motorcycles were acquired on an urgent basis and became operational today.”
Questions from the Opposition Members of Parliament as to whether crime has increased were met with Benn reminding them of the perpetration of electoral theft, in the form of the former APNU/AFC Government’s attempts to rig the elections.
This paper was eventually passed, before the suspension was taken. Upon resumption, Financial Paper No 2 of 2020 covering a sum of $17.4 million, was also debated and passed in the National Assembly.
