Fernandes decries mismanagement of Amerindian Development Fund

Alliance For Change (AFC) spokesperson on Finance Juretha Fernandes has slammed the government for mismanaging the Amerindian Development Fund, stating that several hinterland communities are yet to witness advancement as promised by the Irfaan Ali regime.

Fernandes, also a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), told the press on Friday at her party’s press briefing that this was flagged in the 2022 Auditor General’s Report which was tabled on December 11th, 2023 during the 69th Sitting of the National Assembly.

She told reporters that the AG’s Report exposed the incompetence of the ruling People’s Progressive Party as regards sums budgeted in the 2022 under the Amerindian Development Fund.

“Though we as the opposition questioned how the government is spending these monies, they still went ahead with their one-seat majority and did whatever they pleased,” she said.

Stabroek News noticed in the 2022 Auditor General’s Report that the sum of $1.835 billion was budgeted for: (1) the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme, (2) Presidential Grants, (3) Completion of the National Toshaos Council’s Head office and (4) the Amerindian Development Project and Programmes. This was done under the Amerindian Development Fund and the agency examined in the AG’s Report was the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.

The AG stated that in that year the ministry sought and received a supplementary allotment for $3.116 billion, increasing the total funds available to $4.951 billion. According to the Appropriation Accounts, as of December 31, 2022, the sum of $4.950 billion was expended.

The AG noted that the ministry sought and received approval to transfer the sum of $3.116 billion from the Amerindian Development Fund into the Amerindian Purpose Fund (APF).

The APF was established in 2000 in keeping with Section 28 of the Amerindian Act Chapter 29:01. This was later repealed by Section 84 of the Amerindian Act (2006), which had not in itself provided for the operation of this fund.

Section 29 of the Amerindian Purpose Fund Act requires the ministry to prepare Annual Financial statements which are to be audited by the Auditor General. According to the report, over the years, it was observed that significant sums of money were deposited into the fund and expended.

“Further the ministry continues to manage the financial affairs of the fund poorly,” AG Deodat Sharma stated. “While the ministry maintained a cash book to record the sums received and expended, it did not reflect the opening and closing balances.”

Sharma stated that despite several requests the ministry did not present financial statements for 2022. An analysis of the cash book for 2022 revealed that amounts totalling $302.45 million were received while amounts totalling $90.921 million were expended. The AG highlighted that at the time of reporting in September 2023, the bank account was being reconciled.

The ministry, in response to this, said, “The head of the budget agency indicated that the ministry has commenced reconciliation of this account, the process is being done from a descending order for the years 2022 to 2019. To date 2019 has been partially completed.”

The Audit Office recommended that the head of budget at that government agency ensure that a cash book was properly maintained and updated and the bank reconciliation was done promptly.

Amerindian Development and Programmes

Project

According to the Appropriation Accounts, amounts totalling $356.553 million were expended for the period ending December 31, 2022.

Despite repeated requests, payment vouchers and supporting documents were not presented to justify the expenditure. However, an analysis was conducted from the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) report as shown in the table below :

The ministry said that “the head of the budget agency acknowledged the auditor’s findings and explained that all vouchers were returned to the Ministry of Finance via ‘Returned Schedule’, additionally the payment voucher for the payment for the tractor is a direct payment which was made at the Ministry of Finance.”

However, the AG recommended that the ministry’s head of the budget ensure that all payment vouchers and supporting documentation were made available for audit examination.

Presidential Grants

According to the Appropriation Accounts, amounts totalling $324.415 million were expended for the period ending December 31, 2022. Despite repeated requests, payment vouchers and supporting documents were not presented to justify the expenditure. However, an analysis was conducted from the IFMIS Report as shown in the table below:

The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in its response said that the head of budget acknowledged this finding and assured the AG’s office that a full submission of these entities’ reports will be done, on or before September 9, 2023.

The Audit Office suggested that the head of the budget agency ensured that all payment vouchers were made available for audit examination.

Cheque orders

Cheque orders are required to be cleared within 30 days of their issue through the submission of bills/receipts and other documents in support of the payments made. An examination of the cheque order register revealed that eight cheque orders valued at $32 million issued during 2022 were still outstanding at the time of reporting.

Further, the ministry had still not cleared five cheque orders drawn for the years 2017, 2020 and 2021 for sums totalling $3.849 million as shown in the table below:

The ministry said that the head of budget acknowledged these findings and will address the matter. However, the AG noted, “the Audit Office once again recommends that the head of budget ensure that all cheque orders are cleared in keeping with circularised instructions.

Capital expenditure

As regards, the Amerindian Development Fund and Presidential Grants, village councils submit annual proposals for funding of projects. These projects included the acquisition of goods and the provision of works and services. The ministry processed payments totalling $285.436 million for 212 village councils. The table below summarises the payments per region:

The Audit Office visited 11 village councils during

August 2022 and the following unsatisfactory features were noted:

Payment vouchers were not prepared to substantiate payments.

Cash books were not updated, as a result, balances on grants could not be accounted for.

There was no expenditure on four projects.

The ministry said its head of budget indicated that the financial training for the newly appointed village councils was executed in November 2022.

Meanwhile, despite villages’ accountability being questioned the ministry’s monitoring and development officers verified the completion of the project in question.

The Audit Office recommended that the head of the budget agency conduct more training with the village councils so that good record keeping can be practised and adequate records maintained to ensure that all amounts given as grants are utilised as intended.

The ministry is yet to recover 71 advances totalling $26.572 million that were issued between 2015 to 2017 from the fund.

The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs said that its head of budget explained that despite challenges, the government agency was assiduously working to reduce its uncleared advances for the years aforementioned.

The Audit Office recommended that the ministry’s head of budget ensured efforts were made to recover the money.