Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

Several Government employees have been using illegal credit cards to conduct business and, in some cases, there is no documentary evidence to indicate whether the goods or services they purchased were for personal or state purposes.

Robert Martin, the deputy financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday that the auditor general should recommend a surcharge to penalise the agencies and government ministries that are in breach.

Guidelines for access

Martin said there are clear guidelines which govern the access and use of credit cards. The Ministry of Finance must give approval and the request must go through the permanent secretary in the respective ministry.

The credit-card issue arose when the PAC examined the 2005/06 audited reports of the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) and Caribbean Engineering Corporation Limited (CECL) during yesterday's sitting.

The PAC heard that, under the previous administration, a former chairman of the NHDC breached the credit-card guidelines because he was in possession of a government credit card for which no approval was given.

Not entitled

Martin told the PAC that under the rules, the chairman was not entitled to a credit card.

Opposition Member of Parliament Ian Hayles suggested that Martin did not fully know the number of cards in the system.

In response, Martin said the ones that neither he nor the finance ministry was aware of were in fact illegal.

"They have been attained without the approval of the ministry," he said.

PAC Chairman Dr Omar Davies suggested that the permanent secretary in the appropriate ministry and the finance ministry could request the credit-card information through the issuing banks.

Card payments

He also sought to ascertain whether the credit-card bills were paid on time. But Martin said he was not in a position to answer.

"Once they are illegal, we have no way of knowing," Martin added.

Genefa Hibbert, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Water and Housing, told the PAC that the former NHDC chairman had a corporate credit card for which taxpayers paid.

The former chairman accumulated a bill of $314,000 in eight months and there is no record as to whether the card was used to make payments for personal or government expenses.

Emergency goods

Senior officers of CECL also accumulated a credit-card bill of $564,000. One senior manager who had a credit card told the PAC that it was necessary to procure goods in periods of emergency.

Opposition Member Dr Morais Guy was not against the use of credit cards by senior managers but, like other PAC members, he urged that the process be transparent.

Hibbert said the Ministry of Water and Housing discontinued the credit-card system in 2005.

However, the credit-card system still exists within other ministries and Martin said it would take about a week to determine the approved cards.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com