Caption: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Alicia Chamely
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is demanding former finance minister Colm Imbert apologise for his public “vendetta” against the Auditor General.
Persad-Bissessar was speaking on Friday in the House of Representatives at the Red House, Port of Spain.
The prime minister spoke after the Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the Fiscal Year 2024 was laid in the Parliament by Finance Minister Devendranath Tancoo.
Before delving into the findings of the Auditor General, she said, “What I am about to disclose to you today will trigger vexation, disbelief and outrage in all right-thinking citizens.”
Adding, “The Member for Diego Martin North East’s very public vendetta against the Auditor General, brought the Office of the Minister of Finance into disrepute and odium.”
Persad-Bissessar struck out at Imbert’s fight against the Auditor General, which ended up in court with the Privy Council questioning why Imbert’s conduct was not under investigation.
She said Imbert’s interference with the auditing process had caused the inability of the government to resolve the national accounts for two consecutive years.
Persad Bissessar said, “The situation should have never spiralled the way it did, and if there was more astute leadership from the finance minister, suffice it to say, the issues would have been expeditiously resolved.”
Having expressed her disappointment at Imbert, she said, “On behalf of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, I demand a public apology from the former Minister of Finance.”
$1.5 billion unaccounted
The prime minister continued, revealing that due to lack of cooperation of the Ministry of Finance under the People’s National Movement (PNM) government, the Auditor General could not verify an expenditure of $1.5 billion.
She said for the second consecutive year, the Auditor General had not expressed an audit opinion of the Public Accounts of T&T.
Persad-Bissessar referred to this as “a shameful state of affairs,” as she read from the Auditor General’s Report, “I quote: ‘I do not express an opinion on the Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the financial year ended September 30, 2024. Because of the significance of the matters described in the Basis for Disclaimer of Opinion section of my Report, I have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on the Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.’”
She added, “What this means is that the Auditor General could not verify, validate or approve the accounts of the Government for two years!”
Persad-Bissessar said due to the restricted access to the Electronic Cheque Clearing System, GoAnywhere platform, omissions and the inability to obtain supporting documents, and the verifications of payments, an expenditure of $1.5 billion could not be verified.
She said, “Mr Speaker, this is just one aspect of the fiscal mayhem that we have inherited from the previous regime.”
