Jesse Ramdeo
Senior Reporter
jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
Attorney General Reginald Armour SC says Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass needs support and assistance. He also maintained yesterday that recent developments which have placed her office in the spotlight are not indicative of an attack by Government.
An impasse occurred when the Finance Ministry attempted to alert the Auditor General to a $2.6 billion understatement of Government’s 2023 revenue, which was blamed on a digital system dealing with tax refund cheques.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert told Parliament that staff at the ministry attempted to correct the error but the Auditor General initially declined, since the January 31 deadline had passed and an apparent issue on the date of the new accounts that were submitted. Eventually, she agreed to accept it after a pre-action protocol letter was issued to her.
During his contribution in the Senate yesterday on a motion to extend the reporting period under Sections 24 (1) and 25 (1) of the Exchequer and Audit Act Chapter 69:01, Armour explained that it would have been a conflict of interest if he had advised the Auditor General, as he was already engaged with ministry officials.
“Separation of power does not mean that you wrap yourself in an ivory tower and decline to engage with the other arms of State. It means that you must engage but in the engagement with each other, you respect the territory so as to not encroach on each other and in the Treasury Division beseeching the Auditor General, who clearly was not getting good advice, and I would encourage the Auditor General to proceed from here on with good advice,” he said.
On Friday, Government passed a motion in the lower house seeking to extend the time to present information to the Auditor General.
The Auditor General was seeking the Attorney General’s legal advice on the submission of the Finance Ministry’s amended report where the error was detected. Armour further explained that there would have been no breaches by the Auditor General if she had considered the amended accounts submitted to her containing the over $2 billion error.
“There was nothing untoward, nothing illegal, nothing wrong about the Treasury notifying the Auditor General of errors in the accounts and providing her with information which would have allowed corrections to be made. It was their duty. If they had failed to do that, which they tried over two months to do, they would have been in dereliction of their statutory duty,” Armour explained.
During his contribution, Opposition Senator Wade Mark contended that the move to extend the period for the submission of records was unconstitutional.
“The Attorney General is saying once the Auditor General receives this amended version of the accounts of that Treasury Division, the Auditor General must simply insert the amendment, remove the January 31 accounts and replace it. How can an auditor, a qualified professional, allow herself to be manipulated?” Mark asked.
Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial-Ramdial, who questioned whether Government was attempting to intimidate independent officeholders, was also forced to defend herself after she was accused of benefiting from the legal action initiated by Ramdass against the Minister of Finance.
Through Freedom Law Chambers headed by Anand Ramlogan, SC, Ramdass called on Imbert to correct statements made in Parliament last Friday.
In the legal document’s letterhead, Lutchmedial-Ramdial’s name is listed as a member of the chamber. However, she maintained she had no interest in the matter.
“I know it is difficult for members opposite to understand that, because they have no integrity others also don’t have. I have absolutely no financial interest in this matter. Since 2018, I have received no financial benefit from Freedom Law Chambers, that was when I resigned as an associate. I am briefed on specific matters, you can go to the Board of Inland Revenue and check, I operate as a consultant,” she explained.
The motion was eventually passed with 26 Government votes for and six UNC votes against. Independent Senator Sunity Maharaj abstained while the other Independents voted yes.