Finance Secretary Sukrishnalall Pasha has said that new regulations have been drafted to enhance the record keeping of donations made to the state.
He made these remarks on Monday during the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, where the 2019 Auditor General report was being reviewed with the Ministry of Finance coming under scrutiny.
One of the issues flagged in the report is the failure by the various government ministries and state agencies to properly record donations, either cash or kind, to the state, such as vehicles or equipment like computers.
Responding to questions from Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU’s) Juretha Fernandes, Pasha pointed out that this issue of improper record-keeping has been reoccurring over the years.
In fact, he pointed out that while several measures were implemented, they did not reap the desired result. This led to a circular being issued this year to outline the process to ensure that items gifted to the state were properly documented.
“The practice in past was the agencies receiving these donations did not properly recording these gifts as per the Stores Regulation, so they were breaching the Stores Regulation by not maintaining the register… We felt that this issue might be addressed if we issue a circular, spelling out in very clear language how this particular regulation could be compiled with,” Pasha stated.
According to the Finance Secretary, the internal audit departments at the various ministries and state agencies would also play a role in ensuring that the guidelines outlined in the circular are strictly adhered to.
In addition to the circular, Pasha further disclosed that efforts are being made to update the 33-year-old Stores Regulation that is currently being used.
“I’m happy to report that we’ve actually drafted new stores regulations that would even make this whole exercise simpler because it would allow for me to record any type of [donation to the State] in a less strenuous or stressful way,” he indicated.
The new regulation would see the digitisation of the entire inventory management system, which the Finance Secretary believes would make the record-keeping process simpler.
“It’s a lot of records to update, and with technology that is available now, we’re convinced that once we pass those regulations, we should see much better results. But for now, since the regulation would have to come to Parliament to be approved, we felt that the circular would serve to address this matter in an effective way, adequately for this time… When we do our audits, we will know whether that assumption was good or not, that it cured the problem,” Pasha noted.
Moreover, one of the things that the new regulations would also address is to clearly specify what is considered a “gift” – something which, the Finance Secretary pointed out, is lacking in the current dated regulation.
However, during these discussions, Opposition MP Ganesh Mahipaul raised the issue of personal gifts. Outlining various fictional and real events, Mahipaul enquired about provisions to differentiate donations to the State and gifts given personally to public officials.
The Finance Secretary and Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill – one of the Government’s representatives in PAC – both pointed to the Integrity Commission Act, which requires public officials to declare any “gift” received that values more than $50.
Additionally, the PAC Chairman, We Invest in Nationhood’s (WIN’s) Vishnu Panday, went on to further surmise that the classification of personal gifts or gifts to the State would depend on their circumstances and/or activity, such as an official State event, under which the presentation is made.
Nevertheless, following several minutes of back and forth between the PAC members, Mahipaul posited that there may be a need for the laws to make that explicit differentiation.
“I want to know if we have documented in our laws, like how the United States have it documented in their laws…[and] if the answer is no, then here is another issue that should be raised at the legislative section… And we [can] formulate the rules, regulations, laws and policies from government to speak to that,” the APNU MP declared.
These discussions come months after it was reported that former US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah Ann-Lynch, had turned over jewellery gifted to her in September 2023 by then Education Minister Priya Manickchand.
The two gold bangle bracelets and a necklace were presented to the US diplomat as a token of appreciation upon her departure from Guyana after serving a four-year tenure here.
But the US State Department reported earlier this year that the jewellery, carrying a total value of US$1198, was handed over to the US General Services Administration (GSA) for disposal since the value was above the limit of US$525.
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