At a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament hearing yesterday, the Ministry of the Presidency came in for criticism for its handling of the purchase of a vehicle for Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo.
The Ministry was accused of lax procurement practices and failing to set a proper standard for the subordinate ministries.
The ministry’s procurement practices came into question when the Office of the Prime Minister’s accounts were under scrutiny by the PAC at the Public Buildings.
It was related by Technical Officer Christina Mohan that not only was a vehicle for the Prime Minister sole-sourced, but two separate payments for the vehicle’s procurement were paid out to Beharry Automotive Limited, the supplier, at the same time “by mistake.” Further-more, the vehicle was not delivered until approximately eight months later.
According to the 2015 Auditor General’s report, the procurement of a new Toyota Land Cruiser Station Wagon GX was awarded to the sole bidder for $13.820 million. The quotation, the report said, stated that 50% of the price must be paid on “Firm order” and the remainder on delivery of the vehicle.
The report said the full amount was paid to the supplier on January 4, 2016 and the vehicle was delivered in September, 2016.
PAC member Juan Edghill, standing in for the Chairman at the time, said that the Ministry could not continue to sole-source as it is an unacceptable practice.
“Hold on a second. This is the Public Accounts Committee that you’re talking to madam. A cheque could only be cut based upon a process that has already taken place to give approval for the cutting of that cheque…the only time you cut a cheque is when you intend to pay, you don’t cut a cheque and keep it. And I think the PS knows that. This cheque anyhow could become stale dated because the payment was in January and the vehicle never arrived until September,” Edghill commented.
Mohan began explaining that the vehicle was supposed to be delivered in July, but there was back and forth correspondence between the Ministry and the supplier, but her explanation was interrupted by Edghill.
“No, no, no, no. Hold on a second. You told me earlier, the reason why you’re buying from Beharry is because this is the only company that had this vehicle. And if it is the only company that had the vehicle, why it would be delivered seven months after payment as a payment schedule? Listen, if we had gone to public tender, five, six auto dealers could have sourced this vehicle in six weeks’ time and got it to Guyana. We sole-sourced. We paid 100% up-front, and now you’re telling me that the agreed scheduled delivery time was seven months after? So, we gave Beharry the money to make the vehicle, ship the vehicle, and then sell us the vehicle and in the meantime they were spending government money because we gave them an involuntary loan. Procurement has rules madam accounting officer,” he said.
“If procurement practices at the Ministry of the Presidency is in this fashion, we’re setting a bad example for the country, very bad example. Every minister and every agency could buy from who they want to, when they want to, violating procurement laws, locking out other competitive bidders, and you know why we have competitive bidding? We are not sure that we got the best price. We are not sure that we couldn’t get the same vehicle that you paid 5.2 for 2.9…and these are duty-free…This opens up all kinds of speculations and accusations and so on, which we don’t want to entertain today, but this is why we have procurement laws,” he added.
Asked by Edghill if the ministry had permission from the Financial Secretary (FS) to retain the money after December 31, she responded in the negative and the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Abena Moore responded in the negative.
The FS advised that if it was observed that there would have been a rollover, an application could have been made. Edghill noted that the procurement body could have also been approached for a waiver.
“…Rules are rules; even when the vehicle is for the Prime Minister. Same rules apply. And I’m repeating: accounting officers and professional staff must not buckle to the pressure of policy makers and politicians that cause us to bend the rules because they don’t come to PAC, it is you who come to PAC. And when you come to the PAC, you goh answer based upon the rules…everything is wrong about this transaction and it falls on the lap of the accounting officer,” he observed.
