Chairman of Region 6 (East Berbice – Corentyne) David Armogan says that an investigation has been launched following the findings of Auditor General Deodat Sharma concerning the award of $615.34 million in contracts.
The Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 revealed that that the Regional Administration breached several sections of the Procurement Act of 2003 when it awarded 206 contracts without public tendering.
Stabroek News first reported the breach on January 6 and when contacted yesterday, Armogan confirmed that an investigation has since been launched.
“I cannot say much about the investigation but this is a large sum and we are investigating what happened and what led to the breaches. We are taking it very seriously,” he said during a brief conversation.
The Regional Chairman did commit to releasing the findings once the investigation is completed along with the recommendations.
The Auditor General’s report related that the Regional Administration prequalified 183 contractors for civil works in January of 2019 and they were retained in 2020 since no prequalification was conducted then. According to the AG’s report, 206 contracts totalling $615.34 million were awarded for capital and current expenditure. However, those contracts were not publicly advertised rather the Region utilized the restricted tendering process.
Section 25 (2) of the Procurement Act of 2003 states “A procuring entity may use a method of procurement other than tendering proceedings in accordance with sections 26 through 29, in which case the procuring entity shall include in the record required under section 10 a statement of the grounds and circumstances on which it relied to justify the use of that particular method of procurement.”
In keeping with the provisions of the Act, the Auditor General requested but was not provided with the documentation to justify the engagement of the restrictive tendering process.
“It was further stated in the Procurement Act 26 (1) (a) when the procurement method of restricted tendering is used, the procuring entity shall invite all Suppliers and Contractors to submit tenders for whichever category they were qualified. However, audit perusal of the Regional Tender Board minutes revealed that for twenty-nine contracts to the value of $232.029M, the Regional Tender Board had invited a maximum of five Contractors and in some instances less than five, to submit tenders,” the AG said in his report while recommending that the Regional Administration ensure full compliance with the procurement laws.
While the Region’s Budget Head did not provide an answer for the breaches, they did commit to undertake full compliance with the procurement laws.
In addition to the region was also flagged for its procurement of drugs along with its storage. The Region overpaid approximately $3.1 million for drugs.
