Days after declaring that he stood by his explanation to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, former engineer of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dannie Ramdolar has written to the PAC to apologise for his actions and to ask that the body review their decision for a criminal probe of his conduct.
Last Monday, during the scrutiny of the ministry’s expenditure for 2018, the PAC ordered that a criminal investigation be launched into the actions of Ramdolar after he misled the committee in his response to justify full payment for a contract signed in December 2018 before all of the works were completed.
In his letter dated April 27, 2022 and seen by this newspaper he offered an apology to the body stating that he was out of order and there was no excuse for his action.
“I humbly submit to you for a review of the decision of the PAC to conduct a criminal investigation and allow me the opportunity to meet with the AG’s (Auditor General’s) Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs to clarify the paragraph,” he asked of the committee.
Ramdolar in pleading his case said having worked at the Ministry for seven years, he had never been accused of any misbehaviour in public office and it is his hope that they give him the opportunity to bring clarity to the questions asked.
“I accepted that I have erred in the most serious of manners…This matter has caused me undue stress and public embarrassment to the highest…” he stated.
Ramdolar’s request is expected to be deliberated on by the committee at the next PAC sitting.
Last Monday, while the PAC considered the 2018 Auditor General’s report, it examined the full payment of a contract for the renovation of a self-acting sluice at the Western Section of Lusignan days after the contract was signed and works had not been completed.
“… you deliberately misled the PAC, a parliamentary body who has a duty to account for the resources of the people… When you came here to the PAC you were told that any false information provided to the PAC will be treated as perjury and you perjured yourself by continuously providing false information… that is totally unacceptable,” the PAC’s Chairman Jermaine Figueira told Ramdolar before asking him to recuse himself from the hearing.
The audit office revealed in the report that during a visit to the location on 3 May 2019, it was discovered that the contractor was still on-site effecting works to the structure months after the full payment. The report stated that the engineer certified that the works were completed since December 16th 2018. However, the visit proved that the engineer had falsely certified that the works were completed, the report stated.
Ramdolar in his response to the findings told the committee that the contractor was executing “remedial works” at the time of the state auditors’ visit to the site. He maintained that the works had been completed and at the time of the visit the contractor was engaged in remedial tasks.
In rebuttal, the Audit Office engineer informed the PAC that during their visit many items encompassed in the scope of works had not been completed. The auditors stated too that in cases where remedial work must be undertaken, there is usually a menu of items to be rectified and during their perusal of the documents provided this was absent.
It was on this note that Government member and Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill recommended to Figueira that action be taken against the former engineer of the ministry. Ramdolar resigned in 2021.
“This is misleading the PAC and I feel very badly about it. First it was genuine errors and an overworked environment but this is preparing an entire work certification for payment and the officer is misleading the PAC…Mr Chairman we have the FMAA (Fiscal Management and Accountability Act),” Edghill said.
His recommendation was seconded by Opposition Member of the PAC, Ganesh Mahipaul who had stated that there is no justification for the engineer’s action of falsifying a certificate of works completion.
