Public Accounts Committee to meet next Monday, Pringle reports, adding that a cadre of students will assist in review of financial records
After an unsuccessful attempt to meet in March, the Public Accounts (PAC) is
to be convened on July 8, Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle is assuring the
public.
On Wednesday, July 3, Pringle told an Observer Radio audience that plans for
the members to meet were in train and under the control of the Legislature
staff. The Committee is made up of two Opposition parliamentarians –
Pringle, as chairman, and Barbuda MP Trevor Walker – and Government MPs
Robin Yearwood, Melford Nicholas, and Darryl Matthew.
Acknowledging his responsibilities as head of this reviewing body, Pringle
notes that the PAC – a constitutional committee – has never functioned
optimally, largely because its procedures were never properly detailed and
the absence of a dedicated staff.
Among his challenges, he says, is receiving timely financial accounts from
State agencies and corporations – including National Housing and the National
Asset Management Company (NAMCO).
In fact, Pringle reports, he wrote to Finance Minister Gaston Browne,
requesting certain documents ahead of the Budget Presentation last year;
however, to date, he has not received even an acknowledgement of that letter.
Further, he says, the PAC does not have a staff to sort through the accounts it
actually receives, and this is a painstaking and time-consuming task.
However, he announces, he has been able to put together a cadre of students
who will assist him to comb through the financial records – in addition to
advisory services from Opposition MP Sherfield Bowen, a qualified
accountant.
In the meantime, however, the PAC chairman reminds the public that the
Committee reviews past budgets and expenditure – and some accounts are
more than a decade behind.
Therefore, he says, the questions that residents are asking about present
issues – such as the current rent paid for the premises owned by a relative of
the Public Works minister and the amounts spent on the Alfa Nero – are better
directed to the head of the Government, Prime Minister Browne.
