Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has highlighted legislative safeguards introduced to prevent the nondisclosure of government revenues.
His remarks came as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined the handling of the US$18 million ExxonMobil signing bonus received under the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) administration.
During Tuesday’s examination of the Auditor General’s reports, the committee considered the circumstances surrounding the payment’s receipt in 2016, its placement in a special Ministry of Finance account and its eventual transfer to the Consolidated Fund in 2019.
Edghill said the controversy surrounding the bonus prompted changes to the legal framework governing the disclosure and deposit of government revenues.
“A signing bonus was received; it was not disclosed. It was denied publicly, and the National Assembly came by way of questions and debate on this matter,” Edghill said.
He explained that legislation was subsequently introduced requiring the Minister of Finance to disclose government receipts within a prescribed period and ensure that the funds are deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
The Natural Resource Fund Act 2021 requires the Minister of Finance to disclose petroleum revenues received by the Government in the Official Gazette within three months, while the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act requires public funds to be deposited into the Consolidated Fund, subject to specified exceptions.
“Since then, because of that, legislation [Natural Resource Fund Act 2021] has been put in place that forces the Minister of Finance to disclose receipts, and he has a particular time to make that disclosure and deposit it into the Consolidated Fund,” he said.
Edghill added: “And if he does not, there are criminal penalties that the law stipulates.”
The US$18 million payment was made by ExxonMobil to the government on October 31, 2016, under the former APNU+AFC administration, when Winston Jordan was Minister of Finance.
During a discussion about the payment, the former Finance Minister said: “In fact, I thought it [US$18 million signing bonus] was a gift. You know, initially, I thought it was a gift coming to us.”
He also said he did not know how the signing bonus was arrived at, was not involved in negotiations and did not know who negotiated the payment.
Instead of being deposited into the Consolidated Fund, the money was placed in a special Ministry of Finance account at the Bank of Guyana.
The arrangement became public in December 2017 following media reports and questions about the government’s handling of the funds.
The then administration defended the decision, citing national security considerations and the need to finance Guyana’s legal case in the border controversy with Venezuela before the International Court of Justice.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Finance Secretary Sukrishnalall Pasha acknowledged that the Ministry of Finance had erred by not initially depositing the money into the Consolidated Fund.
“The Ministry made that error,” Pasha said, explaining that the Auditor General flagged the issue in the 2018 report and recommended transferring the funds.
The transfers began in December 2018 and continued into January and February 2019, when the special account was closed.
Pasha said he was unaware of similar issues being identified in the Auditor General’s reports from 2019 to 2025.
The PAC examines audited government accounts and public expenditure outlined in the Auditor General’s reports.
