With charges yet to be brought over a multi-million dollar school feeding fraud in Region Eight from 2017 to 2018, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday requested that the authorities write to the acting Commissioner of Police for an update on the status of the investigation.
None of the officials at the PAC meeting, who included Regional Executive Officer, Peter Ramotar and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Prema Roopnarine could provide clear answers on the investigation.
It was then that Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance, Jennifer Chapman recommended that they contact the police for an update on the investigation. She stated that while a special audit was completed and the matter was handed over to the police to investigate, there was no action.
Subsequent to the recommendation, Ramotar along with Roopnarine and Finance Secretary Sukrishnalall Pasha gave the undertaking to the PAC to follow up on the investigations.
According to the Auditor General’s 2017 report, some $258 million was allocated for dietary supplies in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) but as at 31 December 2017, only amounts totalling $231M were expended.
There had been major financial breaches in the regional payment system and in the 2016 Auditor General’s report, Auditor General Deodat Sharma had disclosed that his office was conducting forensic audits in Region Eight regarding the school feeding programme. From his initial audits there was evidence to indicate mismanagement of $40 million.
Sharma related that one barrier to the investigation was access to information because of missing vouchers.
The Hinterland School Feeding Programme has been under scrutiny for a number of years. As a result, a special investigative audit was undertaken in 2017 of the delivery of the Kato programme and this revealed that there were discrepancies with the pricing of items.
Earlier this year, the Auditor General found that almost $24 million was unaccounted for as part of the dietary programme. The findings were contained in Auditor General Sharma’s report for the fiscal year ending 2020.
According to the AG’s report, $241.696 million was expended in the region under the dietary allocation inclusive of $225.696 million under Programme 3 – Education Delivery. The amount encompassed 10 transactions at Mahdia totalling $66.275 million, 11 at Paramakatoi amounting to $81.3 million and six at Kato pegged at $78.121 million.
In relation to the sum expended at the Paramakatoi Dormitory, the AG said an examination of the payment vouchers revealed a number of discrepancies. The AG said that the requisitions to purchase were not attached to any of the payment vouchers submitted for audit. His office was also unable to trace $10.401 million to the Goods Received Book. As a result, the AG’s office could not determine whether the items were actually received.
Additionally, amounts totalling $65.465 million were paid to a supplier for the supply of dietary items but an examination of the Goods Received Book revealed that items to the value of $63.896 million were recorded as being received resulting in $1.569 million in goods being unaccounted for.
At the Kato Dormitory, an examination of the payment vouchers and other related documents revealed that the Goods Received Book submitted did not include information for the month of December 2020. As a result, it could not be ascertained if the items procured for December 2020 were actually received and if value was obtained for the amounts expended.
The report said that amounts totalling $71.532 million were paid to a supplier for dietary supplies. However, examination of the Goods Received Book revealed that items to the value of $59.738 million were recorded as being received. This resulted in a variance of $11.794 million.
AG Sharma found that a payment voucher and corresponding cheque valued at $5.432 million were prepared and approved to cover an unpaid account for 2018 but an examination of the records showed that the supplier only provided $5.272 million resulting in them being overpaid $160,000.
