By Stabroek News

Copyright stabroeknews

cites need to hold consultants accountable

The newly presented 2024 Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts has zeroed in on the execution of the controversial Belle Vue pump station and the Bamia Primary School.

Auditor General Deodat Sharma on Wednesday presented the report to Speaker of the 12th Parliament, Manzoor Nadir, addressing both persistent problems and noticeable improvements in managing the nation’s finances.

The $865m Belle Vue pump station contract was awarded to Tepui Inc headed by a social media influencer close to the government. The company had never built a pump station and the project languished without the contract being cancelled. A new contractor was later invited to complete the project but the terms of that arrangement are unknown. Similarly, with the Bamia Primary School, the con-tract was awarded to entertainers and sports-persons and is more than two years overdue.

Answering questions from the press, Sharma acknowledged the urgent need to hold consultants responsible for project deficiencies. Sharma lamented the current legal framework, stating, “I think basically what is happening is that some of these projects have consultants. But I think in the consultant act, there is not a penalty and that is our problem.”

He stressed that stricter enforcement is vital to protecting public funds. “You need to hold those consultants responsible,” Sharma asserted. “If we could get that done… not only the accounting officer we could hold responsible, but the consultants.”