National Assembly’s FPAC addresses several issues with reps of key entities |02 November 2021

Members of the FPAC

Members of the National Assembly’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) recently held talks with representatives of key entities to seek further clarification on several points of concern brought to their attention from their annual report.

The Auditor General Gamini Herath was also present throughout all the meetings and assisted the FPAC by clarifying queries and suggestions raised.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) was the first to meet with the FPAC. They presented and discussed pertinent points raised from their recently published 2020 annual report.

The FIU spoke of their accomplishments and the challenges they are facing and the committee was keen to look into different aspects of the FIU’s role and the findings of the report.

The FPAC was notably concerned with the sum of more than R4 billion that has left the country through the bureau de change and what the relevant authorities are doing to ensure that some of this does not constitute flight of capital from Seychelles.

The delegation from the FIU included their director Richard Rampal, the deputy director Debra Port-Louis, the operations manager Angele Low Sauzier and the accounts manager Wilna Azemia.

The secretary of state (SS) Patrick Payet, the comptroller general Irene Croisée and the deputy comptroller Astride Tamatave from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade (MFEPT) were also present for another meeting with the FPAC following concerns raised by some entities regarding recruitment prior to the budget discussions which will soon be presented to the National Assembly.

The FPAC and the representatives from MFEPT made several suggestions and recommendations and both parties agreed on a way forward.

Last to face the FPAC was the Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission (PEMC) represented by its chief executive Georges Tirant and principal analyst Verona Rose. The talks focused on what the PEMC is doing in relation to SOEs and PEs touching on the plans and targets of those entities.

The FPAC also agreed on certain requests for information in relation to several key areas.

The members of the FPAC include Hon. Sebastien Pillay as chairperson, Hon. Terence Mondon as the vice-chairperson, Hon. Richard Labrosse, Hon. Churchill Gill, Hon. Sandy Arissol, Hon. Conrad Gabriel and Hon. Georges Romain.

Press release from the National Assembly