A $100m loan from the APNU+AFC government to the state-owned Guyana National Printers Limited (GNPL) in 2017 revealed that not only were no interest or principal payments made but that most of the machinery bought is either currently not working or still stored in shipping plastic, a special audit of the transaction has revealed.
It has been recommended by the Office of the Auditor General audit that the then Board be held responsible.
The report into the funds loaned to the GNPL said that three years after the monies were borrowed to purchase and upgrade machinery and repair the building, only about ten percent of the objective had been achieved.
According to the document, seen by the Stabroek News, some $87.4M was paid to a company -Crystal Graphics – to purchase the machinery but to date only about $9.1M worth of machinery was installed and working.
“The total amount of S87.405M that was paid to Crystal Graphics Equipment Inc., Items to the value of S9.180M were installed and working. This represents 10.5% of total payments. Please note, one item (is) still in shipping plastic and the remaining three (pieces of) equipment installed but not working,” the audit report stated. The report was transmitted on May 10 this year by GNPL to Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy.
“Since after three years only $9.180M or 10.5% were installed and working, then the Objectives for acquiring the funds were not met/achieved and the Board of Directors should be held accountable for the inefficient, ineffective and uneconomical use of funds borrowed,” the audit added.
It was the Board of Directors of GNPL, according to the audit which referenced documents to support the position that had identified the need for additional funding in 2017, to facilitate the acquisition of machinery to fulfil the printing needs of the Government.
Requesting the sums, they had stated that the purpose of the project was to facilitate the acquisition of guaranteed working used equipment to “improve the productive capacity of GNPL and satisfy the printing needs of the Government of Guyana”.
The Terms and Condition of the Loan Agreement stated that the loan would be disbursed from time to time, with the last disbursement being on or before November 30th of 2017. Two amounts totaling $100M were released and deposited into a Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited account.
The GNPL had agreed to terms of maturity of six years – the loan matures on 1 January 2023 including a grace period of one year from 12 April 2017 to 12 April 2018 on the Principal amount. Interest at a rate of 2% per annum on the amount of the loan disbursed and outstanding from time to time was also stated.
In the event that the GNPL fails to pay any portion of the Principal and or Interest due and payable under this agreement, the company committed to paying interest on such overdue amounts to the Government, at the rate of 5% per annum for a period from the day succeeding the due date for such overdue payments to the day of the actual payment thereof, both dates inclusive.
Restricted tendering was used to procure the items and nine companies were invited to tender. They were Schiebeler and Co and Puregold Enterprise of Trinidad and Tobago. From the United States were six companies: A-1 Printing Equipment, Crystal Graphic Equipment Inc (CGEI)., Trinity Printing Solutions, Cari-Graph Corp, Roya Machinery USA LLC and Mass Printers Inc. From Canada was Premier Choix Inc.
Bidders had to submit bids for the supply of One Offset Press – 4 or 5 Colour, 720 x 1020mm, year of manufacture 1995-2010; one Computer to Plate – 840 x 1120mm, year of manufacture 2000-2010; one Multifunctional Collator – 350 x 500mm, year of manufacture 1995-2015; one UV Coater – Offline UV Coater – 720 x 1020mm, year of manufacture 1995- 2017 and one Numbering Unit – 171/2 x 23 inches, year of manufacture 1995-2015 among other equipment.
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board gave approval to the Ministry of Business for the tender and the David Granger APNU+AFC Cabinet granted a “No Objection” for the approval of the acquisition of six pieces of used printing and packaging equipment from CGEI.
But the audit report stated that neither letters nor notices soliciting Expressions of Interest or Letters of Acceptances were seen as being dispatched to the eligible bidders that were short- listed.
According to documentation seen, the Audit Report stated that six pieces of machinery were purchased as per the loan agreement.
Crystal Graphics Equipment Inc, the report stated, prepared a Progress Reports and highlighted that three 40 ft Containers arrived in Guyana on the 2nd and 12th of December 2017. While the list of items in the container stated that a US$3500 air compressor was among items, a physical verification check of the equipment purchased revealed it was missing.
When the audit was done, a Heidelberg Topsetter CTP Model air compressor was not seen either. Both items together cost US$46,500.
In November 2016, then President Granger had visited GNPL. A Ministry of the Presidency release had said that once the primary printing source for all Government documents, GNPL was struggling to be competitive and profitable. The release had said that the APNU+AFC administration believed that the institution remains relevant and can still serve the printing needs of the public sector. It said this position was made clear by Granger during his tour of the La Penitence facility. The release had said that he assured his Government’s commitment to providing the infrastructure and equipment needed to transform it into a competitive enterprise. He also lauded the 80-plus staff members, many of whom have worked at the printery for over 30 years
