Opposition Leader Godwin Friday is taking steps to call a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Central Kingstown MP, St. Clair Leacock has said.
Leacock said notice of the meeting could be served on the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rochelle Forde, as early as Thursday, when the national assembly meets.
The PAC has not met since November 2011, when its then-chairman, who was opposition leader, Arnhim Eustace, called a meeting, but government lawmakers objected to it taking place, saying the rules had never been approved by Parliament.
Since then, the government have not taken any steps to approve the rules.
However, House Speaker Rochelle Forde, who took up her post in 2020, has said that she has spoken to Friday about how a meeting could be conducted without the rules being approved.
During the November 2011 meeting of the PAC, the examination of special audits of the ministries of agriculture and health was removed from the agenda of the PAC while members verified whether PAC guidelines, used in previous meetings, were ever approved by Parliament.
Also, the meeting had been scheduled to look into a 2010 special audit of the Ministry of Health that questioned the involvement of the International Airport Development Company in the Cuban Integrated Health Programme and the purchase of large amounts of fast KFC by the CIHP.
Lanceford Weekes, who has since retired from the public service, was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health when the fast food was purchased.
Weekes, who is a commentator on Boom FM, used one of his slots last week to make yet another call for the PAC to meet.
Leacock, who is also a vice president of the opposition New Democratic Party, responded:
“I want to say with respect to the Public Accounts Committee, to let Mr. Weekes know that last week, all subcommittee members under the chairmanship of our party, Dr. Friday, met, and we have put all steps in place to have the Public Accounts Committee meet.”
Leacock, however, cautioned people who have been calling for meetings of the PAC.
“… when that committee meets, a lot of hell will break loose,” he said, adding, “… the revelations, which probably should have been out long before now, will be earth-shattering.
“And so, the New Democratic Party will take the initiative to have the Public Accounts Committee meeting, it will be revealing, and we’ll go beyond that. We’ll ask for the reports to be made available now. We’ll see how they will respond to that.”