NDIA’s $19M fuel contract poorly managed–audit report

Oct 21, 2012 News

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 – claims for non functioning excavators unearthed

Even as the Ministry of Agriculture tries to put a veil on a recent damning audit report, more evidence of fraud is emerging, especially with regards to the fuel consumption by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
Reports reaching this newspaper have indicated that the NDIA is now being asked to look critically into its fuel supply and transportation contract, following concerns expressed by members of the Rice Producers Association (RPA) that they are not getting value for money.

With a contract amounting to a whopping $19M per month for Regions Three and Four, any irregularity could see the perpetrator pocketing a tidy sum.
Only last week this newspaper published sections of an audit report which pointed to massive irregularities regarding the consumption of fuel by the NDIA-irregularities that pointed to collusion among senior NDIA officials, including CEO Lionel Wordsworth and Senior Section Engineer Aneel Chowbay.
An RPA official has informed that in Region Three, where fuel is being claimed for about eight excavators, supposedly operating in the area, only one is actually doing work.
This was after checks were made at Ruby and Parika backdams where the machines were said to have been deployed to work.
This newspaper was reliably informed that one of the machines still cannot be located.
In addition to the fuel claims, the NDIA is also being billed for spare parts for machines that are actually lying idle.
The RPA official said that of the total contracted sum of $19M, about $9M is allocated to Region Three alone.
A recent audit report had opined that the contract for fuel transportation and payments recommended was poorly managed and verified by the Senior Section Engineer.
“It was requested that the SSE provided work orders relative to each contract for 2011/12 and cross referenced each line on the work order with the bill of quantities item number so that the fuel received/ delivered can be reconciled,” the report stated.
Government had announced that it was spending millions of dollars on drainage and irrigation-with specific reference to pumps along the coastal belt–in an effort to prevent flooding, which could decimate the main agricultural belt.
The audit found that there is no proper system to account for fuel at the various pump stations.
For example, there was no physical count via daily dips (in terms of inches) and its conversion recorded in the log books since there were no calibrated and hydraulic measuring sticks.
Operators resorted to sticks, wood, and lengths of pointers to establish the level of fuel in the tanks. As a result, fuel received/on hand cannot be accurately measured and reconciled.

“Pump operation time at respective RPMs based on tide levels was not recorded. Water levels were not recorded prior to pumping due to the absence of markers at most of the pump stations visited,” the audit found.
With regards to the actual NDIA pumps deployed throughout several parts of the country and which utilize the fuel supplied the audit found that “fuel pump monitoring reports were only prepared for January and February 2012 and August 2012 which did not cover all operational pumps.
The audit report, which was forwarded to President Donald Ramotar, had pointed to a conflict of interest involving NDIA Senior Engineer Aneel chowbay, regarding the operation, servicing and monitoring of the entity’s hydraulic excavator.
According to the report, the contractor is Chowbay’s uncle. “It must be noted that the bill of quantities was prepared by and requests for payment verified/certified by the Senior Section Engineer (Chowbay) for all contracts awarded to his relation.”
“This situation presents a conflict of interest and a great risk of the SSE’s primary interest being unduly influenced by a secondary interest,” the audit report had stated.
The audit recommended that Chowbay cease all functions relating to excavators including preparation of scope of works, bill of quantities, verification of payments and be written to for not disclosing the conflict of interest.
The audit had further found that the NDIA had sole sourced the contract for the transportation of fuel and lubricants.
But the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) in responding to an article published by this newspaper concerning the audit had claimed that the article was misleading and inaccurate and only “represent the interest of someone with a personal agenda.”
The Ministry had explained that there were 10 pre-qualified contractors for the provision of transportation services arising out of a public procurement process.
Referring to the monitoring of fuel at the pumps, the Ministry explained that there is an internal control mechanism in place to monitor the use of fuel at pump stations and other facilities.
This, the Ministry said, is monitored by the Mechanical Department of the NDIA who would collect the data and submit reports to eradicate any threat of fraudulent activity. The Mechanical Department is mandated to compare working hours of pumps against fuel consumed to ensure there is accountability and value for money. All records are then compiled and presented for audit purposes.
The Ministry has attempted to discredit the entire audit report.

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