Public entities with ‘frozen’ budgets make their case before the FPAC |25 May 2018

The Financial and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) yesterday met governmental departments and agencies that had had some parts of their budgets blocked during the National Assembly’s cross-examination of the 2018 national budget late last year.

The public entities that appeared before the FPAC included the National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (Nisti), Department of Defence, Office of the President, Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Agency for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (Apdar), Seychelles Prison Service, Seychelles Heritage Foundation and the Children’s Fund.

Also in attendance to help direct the proceedings were the secretary of state (SS) in the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Patrick Payet, principal secretary for finance Damien Thésée and Astride Tamatave from the same ministry.

According to FPAC chairman Wavel Ramkalawan, the entities had to provide adequate explanation of their budgets in order for the FPAC to recommend for the National Assembly to unfreeze their designated budgets.

“These are important and crucial exercises towards improving the structure of the state’s finances so as to ensure that state money is being satisfactorily handled,” said Mr Ramkalawan.

Nisti was the first to interact with the committee after half of their R480,000 allotted payments for security was blocked by the National Assembly due to a lack in proper tender procedures.

SS Payet stated that following new open tenders, Nisti has opted for the services of a security company with a contract of R960,000 over the space of two years --  ­­or R40,000 per month. This contract is expected to be signed in June 2018 once the appeal process concludes.

This would result into a saving of R90,000 for 2018 which Nisti’s chief executive Xavier Estico explained could be passed on to cover the institute’s additional expenses in regards to unforeseen maintenance, overseas travel and electricity costs.

Satisfied with Mr Estico’s clarifications, the FPAC moved on to the department of defence that had had R10 million out of R24.7 million frozen in relation to its personnel’s gratuities and compensations.

The decision to retain the R10 million was made November last year after the FPAC met the department in a private session and came to an agreement that the force should provide more details on the actual breakdown of this budget.

Henceforth the department of defence conducted a thorough assessment of their personnel to identify those eligible for compensations and gratuities in 2018 and SS Payet yesterday revealed that the assessment concluded that the department would need a total amount of R42.7 million instead of the original projected R24.7 million.

“This means that even if the National Assembly unfreezes the R10 million, the department of defence will still have a deficit of R18 million,” SS Payet stated.

The increase in amount is linked in parts to arrears in compensations and gratuities that were due for 2017 but were paid in 2018, R19.5 million allocated to those who will retire in 2018 as well as to compensate the security officers of former presidents who decided not to continue within the force.

In response to FPAC member Jean-François Ferrari, SS Payet stated that the R18 million is expected to be financed by adjusting various projects but also acknowledged that some parts might come in front of the National Assembly as a supplementary budget request.

The interactions continued in a similar vein with the Office of the President, represented by its principal secretary for administration Yvonia Richardson, which requested a total sum of R9.7 million of its R13 million frozen funds.

Other budgetary freeze discussed during the proceedings included:

• R240,000 in public relations consultancy and outsourcing fees for STB. The institution has been advised by the FPAC to build its capacity and human resource to enable internal content production and marketing.
• R13 million in board fees, security services and construction of a wellness center facility for Apdar.  Apdar is looking into the possibility of additional funds to finance rehabilitation initiatives, capacity building and recruitment of specialised nurses and psychologists.
• R400,000 for Seychelles Heritage Foundation. The foundation was initially asked by the National Assembly to retrieve money and arrears owed to it. In this regard, SEYLICIOUS paid R380,000 for its arrears and the foundation has finalised and implemented its debt collection policies as well as a payment plan for its tenants.

• R40 million for Seychelles Prison services under uniform, clothing and bed linen, security and enforcement, services agreement with the Island Development Company (IDC) and maintenance projects.
• R7 million for the Children’s Fund. The body now runs as a programme under the Ministry of Family Affairs instead of under the portfolio of the Office of the President. Its new board was set up in February 2018.

The accompanying photos show representatives of some of the public entities during their interaction with the FPAC yesterday.