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Finance Minister Colm Imbert speaking in Parliament on Monday.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Monday said that it is of the view that a special report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts for the Financial Year 2023 “only adds fuel to the fire, creates more unnecessary public confusion and does not satisfactorily address the core issue” in the original report.
In that original report, the Auditor General on the 2023 Accounts, there is a TT$2.6 billion (One TT dollar=US$ 0.16 cents) discrepancy in revenue.
The issue is now heading to the London-based Privy Council after the Court of Appeal in June overturned the decision of High Court judge Justice Westmin James to refuse permission to the Auditor General, Jaiwantie Ramdass, to allow her to challenge the legality of Cabinet’s decision to appoint an investigation team, led by retired judge David Harris, to investigate several issues related to the Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts for the Financial Year 2023.
Ramdass had complained that Imbert’s recommendation to Cabinet to initiate the probe, appoint an investigative team to investigate, make findings and recommendations, and report to the Finance Minister was biased.
The Court of Appeal granted Ramdas’s leave, stopped the Auditor General’s investigation, and ordered that her lawsuit be heard by another judge in the High Court.
The dispute arose in April after the Ministry of Finance sought to deliver amended public accounts to explain and rectify an error in which the government’s revenue needed to be understated.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said that following the public statements made by the Auditor General concerning her original report on the 2023 Accounts, “her baseless assertion that the Ministry of Finance sought to backdate the original 2023 Accounts unethically has been thoroughly refuted.
This Special Report does not assist in any way in clearing up the main issue in contention, which resulted from an overstatement of tax refunds and a subsequent underreporting of net revenue, leading to an aTT$2.6 billion discrepancy in the revenue figures for 2023.
Imbert said that the main point of this Special Report, the expected scope of which was clearly outlined in a letter written by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance to the Auditor General on June 16, 2024, was to clear up that issue.
However, instead of confirming that the TT$2.6 billion discrepancy had been resolved and that there was, in fact, no missing money, the Auditor General has avoided making any definitive statement on that fundamental matter in this Special Report and instead has chosen to make caustic remarks about the staff and systems in the Ministry of Finance.
He said what is particularly disturbing about the Auditor General’s approach to this matter is the fact that “at the Exit meeting held on July 22, 2024, to complete the process of meetings on the Special Report, the audit team from the Auditor General’s Department, which included some of the most senior auditors in that Department, openly expressed its satisfaction to the staff of the Ministry of Finance that the adjustment of TT$2.6 billion was appropriately accounted for.
However, the Auditor General in her Audit Opinion on page 25 did not state that she was satisfied that the error in the Public Accounts for the financial year 2023 was corrected, Imbert said, adding, “We view this omission on her part as a continuing campaign of noncooperation and criticism of public officials in the Ministry of Finance by the Auditor General.”
Imbert told the first sitting of the new parliamentary session that he had also taken note of “the screaming headlines in the Sunday Express of September 8, 2024,” titled “Central Bank denied me access,” regarding an affidavit dated September 5, 2024, filed by the Auditor General in the constitutional matter against the Attorney General over the payment of legal fees to her attorney, the former Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan.
He said that the affidavit referenced “extracts from this Special Report, although on September 5, 2024, the Special Report had yet to be laid in Parliament, and the premature disclosure of its contents is, in our view, a breach of process.
It is clear to us that the premature publication of that emotionally charged affidavit in the Sunday Express was designed to evoke public sympathy, Imbert said.
He said in the newspaper article on Sunday, Ramdass claimed that the Central Bank denied her access to the Electronic Cheque Clearing System, which negatively impacted her ability to perform a proper audit and check of the system, which led to the understatement of some TT$2.6 billion in revenue.
We fail to see the connection between that alleged denial of access to the Central Bank’s computer systems, and the confirmation that the $2.6 billion understatement had been resolved as stated by her Audit Team on July 22, 2024, Imbert said, adding nonetheless he contacted the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Alvin Hilaire on the matter.
The Governor has informed me that following an email request made on June 24, 2024, by an official in the Auditor General’s Department, to examine the Bank’s Electronic Cheque Clearing System and its GoAnyWhere Platform, it requested official correspondence from the Auditor General with an outline of the scope of the potential engagement. The Central Bank also indicated it was open and willing to meet with the Auditor General at any mutually convenient time.
Imbert said he has been “advised that to date, while it has received an outline of the scope of the proposed examination from a subordinate in the Auditor General’s Department, the Bank has not yet received any correspondence from the Auditor General delegating authority to her staff to act on her behalf on this matter, nor has it received a proposed time or date for the earlier requested meeting between the Auditor General and the Governor.
Imbert said that the Central Bank was unable to accommodate the request.
However, in that regard, the Bank has advised me given the historical relationship between the Auditor General and the Bank and the critical role of the Auditor General in the conduct of national affairs, the Governor remains open to meeting with and discussing any matter with the Auditor General.
This meeting can form the basis for a precise and properly constituted engagement that, while not like an audit of the accounts of the Central Bank, which has already been completed, could be very informative regarding public sector financial transactions and processes.
It is hoped that the Auditor General will follow the established procedures and meet with the Governor of the Central Bank on this matter or delegate authority in writing to the Deputy Auditor General or another suitable staff member to act on her behalf, Imbert said.
Conclusion:
The government is urging the Auditor General to provide clarity on the matter and to avoid creating unnecessary public confusion. The issue has been taken to the Privy Council, and the government is seeking a definitive resolution.
FAQs:
Q: What is the dispute about?
A: The dispute is about the Auditor General’s report on the Public Accounts for the Financial Year 2023, which showed a TT$2.6 billion discrepancy in revenue.
Q: What is the government’s position on the matter?
A: The government believes that the Auditor General’s report is biased and does not provide a clear explanation of the discrepancy in revenue.
Q: What is the Auditor General’s position on the matter?
A: The Auditor General has stated that the government is trying to backdate the original 2023 Accounts unethically and that the Central Bank denied her access to the Electronic Cheque Clearing System.
Q: What is the next step in the process?
A: The issue is being taken to the Privy Council, and the government is seeking a definitive resolution.