– education ministry pursuing litigation
Two years after paying a contractor $18.5 million to supply equipment for technical/vocational projects, the Ministry of Education is still to receive the equipment or a refund of the payment, the latest Auditor General’s Report reveals.
“In 2008, the ministry entered into a contract for the supply of equipment for technical/vocational projects in the sum of $18.470 million. However, the contractor failed to honour the terms of the agreement, even though the ministry had paid over the full contract sum,” the Auditor General said in his report. The equipment ordered, the report said, is still outstanding.
The head of the budget agency within the ministry said the matter is now being pursued through litigation. The Audit Office has recommended that immediate action be taken by the ministry to determine the contract and recover the sum paid to the contractor.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has still not resolved the issue concerning an overpayment of $32 million to a delinquent contractor for works on the construction of the male dormitory at President’s College. Up to September of this year, the sum of money overpaid had not been recovered as yet by the ministry.
The budget agency head indicated that the entity has “engaged the Ministry of Finance to derive a resolution” to the matter.
In 2008, there was also overpayment on measured works amounting to $402,470 which have not been recovered to date. This includes $15,000 on a project at the Tain Campus of the University of Guyana, $160,000 on work commenced on the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and $227,570 for work done on the Linden Technical Institute.
