The Audit Office is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding 60 payments to a supplier, totalling $33.663 million, for which the Region Eight administration cannot properly account.
According to the Auditor General’s 2016 report, the sum relates to purchases from a supplier based in Parika. The region, when asked, was able to provide only 10 payment vouchers, totalling $9.5 million, for audit examination.
This same supplier received $2.432 million in payment, inclusive of $1.934 million in relation to field items purchased. However, the payment voucher bore no evidence of the Accountant General’s examination, no cheque number, no evidence of the items being entered into the Goods Received Book nor any evidence of Regional Tender Board approval. Despite this, the voucher was passed for payment.