The Joint Public Accounts Committee is responsible for maintaining the checks and balances of the government's use of public funds. However, the committee has not been able to produce a national audit report since the 2014-2015 fiscal year. That's because they have been receiving outstanding financial reports since that fiscal year. They have met with the FinSec, the Accountant General, and the Auditor General but are still unable to carry out their duty. And that's why yesterday, they requested a meeting with the PM - the first time such a meeting has been called. And today, the chair of the committee, Tracy Panton, spoke to us about the concerns they expressed to him.
Tracy Panton, Chairperson, JPAC
"So the joint public accounts committee has been meeting almost monthly, every six weeks or so. We've had 12 sessions. We've had two hearings. We have called before the committee the accountant general, the auditor general, the financial secretary."
"I don't know if the public is aware that the last set of financial statements that we have to review was for the fiscal year 2014-2015. There has been, in my humble opinion, a gross dereliction of duty and responsibilities by those departments who are responsible to ensure that there are timely financial reports and that there are audited financial reports for JPAC to consider."
"I feel that the committee made every attempt to work with the entities that are responsible and still we haven't been able to move the needle forward. And so we felt compelled to call the prime minister to a meeting yesterday so that he can be aware of some of the issues that JPAC is experiencing."
"Let me tell you, public accounts is an important pillar of Belize's democracy and there must be information provided to us so that we can do our job in terms of executing the kind of oversight that is necessary by the joint public accounts committee."
"But if we have no information to work with, we're being stoned wall if you will. The auditor general presented us with a list of 43 management reports. which is part of her risk assessment processes."
"And we have an ask for updates on those reports. Those are current reports. Those reports were generated from the period of 2019 to 2021. And we can't get a response. There has been no audits that have been done since the Auditor General was reappointed in her post."
"It took 18 months for the government to appoint an Auditor General. This is not acceptable. And you know, the fingers are pointed at the Joint Public Accounts Committee, but I can assure you that this committee has done everything to ensure that we get the answers that the Belizean people need to have."
