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The Joint Public Accounts Committee (JPAC) is calling for the Office of the Auditor General to conduct a comprehensive review of the government’s SmartStream financial management system. The request was among the key decisions announced following the committee’s eighth meeting of the Fourteenth Parliamentary Session, held on July 9 at the National Assembly in Belmopan. According to the committee, the Auditor General is being asked to examine SmartStream’s effectiveness, reliability, governance, internal controls, data integrity, reporting capabilities, and the extent to which the system supports compliance with Belize’s public finance laws. Love News spoke with JPAC Chairman Godwin Haylock, who says the committee’s request reflects its responsibility to ensure the country’s public financial systems remain transparent, accountable, and effective. Speaking with the media at Friday’s protest, Haylock spoke on the issuance of contracts to family members, whilst welcoming the idea of the Central Procurement Unit that Prime Minister Briceno had indicated.
Godwin Haylock, UDP Queen Square Area Representative: “I think no party has given an official policy that will mandate, on nepotism but for me I will tell you and you can hold me to it that I don’t believe that no immediate family should be afforded a special opportunity just because I’m here you will get that break. Not at all. That time needs to come to an end. Those who have their business and vie for it must go through a public open transparent system. It’s time that all Belizeans fight for it if you want to get value with government contracts.”
Reporter: Do you consider that this central procurement unit where the Prime Minister is saying people can access now that electronic portal and see who gets paid. Do you think that will work in benefit of the public or do you see loopholes from now ?
Godwin Haylock, UDP Queen Square Area Representative: “Well everything man has created man has also found a loophole for. I won’t say that there won’t be loopholes but I think it’s a direction in the right direction so I’m definitely in supportive of opening up so the public can view contracts, can view payments and there’s no need for us to be breaking down contracts. Create a law, more than creating a higher threshold to avoid the Contractor General create a law that everybody must go to the Contractor General, make it more easier to do and that I think will make the government more streamlined, more efficient and I think the public will be more pleased with that type of result. I do believe that there must be a cap, and if the cap is increased to $20,000 lets say or $30,000 or $50,000 everything above that that a contract is signed must go through it. You can’t avoid it by breaking it up in three. The time for that has to come to an end now.”
In addition to requesting the SmartStream review, the committee announced that its members will participate in a three-day capacity-building and technical assistance programme from July 27th to 29th. The training, facilitated by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association with technical support from the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation, will focus on strengthening the committee’s oversight role, interpreting audit reports, conducting public hearings, and improving parliamentary practice. Haylock says the training will further equip committee members with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively scrutinize public expenditure and uphold accountability./
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