– says questions which came from others were of poor qualityBy Kiana WilburgFinance Minister, Winston Jordan had his hopes set high on going head-to-head with Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo during the deliberations of the 2015 estimates for his Ministry. But he was sorely disappointed.Finance Minister, Winston JordanOpposition Leader, Bharrat JagdeoThroughout that session in the National Assembly last week, Jagdeo, a former Finance Minister, was “as quiet as a church mouse.”Only two Opposition Members of Parliament attempted to grill Jordan; former Tourism Minister, Irfaan Ali and former Junior Finance Minster, Juan Edghill.Ali questioned the Finance Minister on matters unrelated to the line items in the estimates.He was told repeatedly by Jordan that he would not entertain his questions on statutory expenditure which encompasses salaries of the Ombudsman, Judges and the public debt. This is not examined by the National Assembly.Edghill on the other hand, asked three questions on the forensic audits being pursued by the government. He inquired about the terms of reference used to employ some of the firms and auditors, a list of the said forensic auditors and the monies being paid to each.Jordan told him that there were 15 companies which were contracted through sole sourcing for the forensic auditors and they are being paid a total of $150M.“As for Ali’s questions,Authentic NFL Jerseys Wholesale, I refused to answer as they were out of order. You have to stay within the rules of the house. I was disappointed to say the least at the small number of questions and the quality of the questions.The questions asked seemed to have an agenda or were meant to embarrass someone. I was disappointed but it was not unexpected,” said the Finance Minister.But throughout the deliberations, the Opposition Leader was silent. After the estimates of the Finance Ministry were dealt with, Jagdeo rushed out of the chambers and held a press briefing.In the wee hours of the morning, the former Finance Minister voiced his concerns with regard to Jordan and his budget presentations.“What we just witnessed is the worst act of accountability that I have seen on the part of a Finance Minister ever in this country. He hid behind several rules of the National Assembly and refused to deal with the questions posed to him by members of our side.”Jagdeo added,NCAA Hockey Jerseys, “He refused to speak on the $5M he transferred to the Guyana Rice Development Board prior to the budget and the $3.8B that was diverted to GuySuCo. We asked him where this money came from and he refused to say if it came from the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund or if it was from somewhere else.”The former President then revealed his “conspiracy theory” in this regard.He had said that the only reason Jordan could have refused to answer the questions is because he is guilty of spending monies without the approval of Parliament – the same “crime” the government, when in opposition,Wholesale NFL Jerseys Online, had accused the former Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh of.“This is money he refuses to account for. He has also refused to answer for where the $23B transfer to the rice industry is located in the Estimates. From our understanding, it is located as a public debt and he does not want to admit that. He has misled us all.”Jagdeo also blasted the government for what he described as the “sole sourcing” of forensic auditors without pursuing public tender.He said that this, along with Jordan’s actions in the House, constitute some of the worst acts of corruption. He promised that he will do everything in his power to expose this to the Guyanese people.The Opposition Leader had said that even if he has to get the recording of Jordan’s behaviour and post it online via YouTube,Wholesale Jerseys China, he will do so.The Finance Minister however,Cheap Jerseys, refuses to respond to Jagdeo’s accusations. He maintained that Jagdeo had every opportunity within the Standing Orders to grill him on the line items within the 2015 estimates but chose to be silent.“How disappointing,Jerseys NFL Cheap, and I had three thick books with answers waiting for him.”