Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira has revealed that the special team established by President Dr Irfaan Ali to conduct a rapid financial and management assessment into several State agencies will work ‘pro bono’.
The team comprises Christopher ‘Kit” Nascimento, Public Communications Consultant; Christopher Ram, Chartered Accountant and Attorney–at-law; Nigel Hinds, Certified Public Accountant; and Sasenarine Singh, Financial Consultant.
According to a statement from the Government, the team’s work is expected to start “immediately”.
The agencies identified for the team to assess are the Guyana Power and Light, the Guyana Water Incorporated, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Central Housing and Planning Authority, the Guyana Forestry Commission, Guyana Gold Board, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Lotto Fund, the Guyana Energy Agency, the Guyana Rice Development Board, the Guyana Oil Company, the Guyana National Shipping Corporation, the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
The team will also be conducting a review of the operations, policies and programmes of the Department of Public Information (DPI), the National Communications Network Incorporated (NCN) and the Guyana National Newspaper Limited (Guyana Chronicle).
Further, the team will address the matter of the functions of the Guyana Broadcasting Authority (GNBA).
The APNU/AFC in a statement on Wednesday evening described the formation of the team as a “PPP Witch Hunt Squad.” Notably however, some of the same individuals – Nigel Hinds, Christopher Ram- were part of an audit team for the APNU/AFC following the 2015 elections. Sasenarine Singh, another member of the team was at the time an executive member of the AFC.
