NDIA internal audit…Chairman still awaiting final document, response from CEO

Oct 24, 2012 News

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Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, says he is still awaiting a final report on the audit done by the entity’s Internal Auditor.
Seeraj made the comment in response to queries on the report which created headlines with its recommendation that Chief Executive Officer Lionel Wordsworth and Senior Section Engineer Aneel Chowbay be sacked in the face of fraud allegations and non-declaration of conflict of interest.

The report was addressed to Seeraj in his capacity as Chairman of the Board and carbon copied to President Donald Ramotar, a move that angered Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, under whose portfolio the NDIA falls.
Seeraj, in a telephone interview, said that the report was just a draft and he has instructed that procedures be followed before he can definitively pronounce on it.
According to the NDIA Chairman, the audit report must first be commented on, and a final report prepared.
“I cannot work with a draft report. I have directed that it be sent to the CEO for him to comment. I can only act on a report that has been finalized,” Seeraj told this newspaper.
Kaieteur News understands that President Donald Ramotar has also instructed that the CEO provide a response to the allegations contained in the report.
Immediately after contents of the report were published by this newspaper, the NDIA, through the Ministry of Agriculture, sought to discredit it, claiming that it was mischievous and misleading, and aimed at damaging the image of the Authority for personal gains and aspirations.
The audit on the NDIA’s fuel consumption and equipment operations and maintenance, was conducted between May and September. It was completed and submitted to the Chairman of the NDIA Board of Directors on September 26, last.
The report concluded that fraudulent acts were committed by Wordsworth and Chowbay, in breach of the Procurement Act 2003. It speaks of conflict of interest and sole sourcing of services such as the supply of fuel and the awarding of contracts to relatives of senior NDIA operatives, in breach of national procurement procedures.
Since the publication, the Ministry of Agriculture has sought to discredit the author of the audit report and there are rumours that the auditor is under tremendous pressure to retain his job.
This newspaper has also been informed that the NDIA is investigating the leakage of the report.
The NDIA Board Chairman said that while he does not have a problem with the auditor doing his work, “it would have been good if it was the final report that was in the press after some of the things were clarified.”
When asked if the swift response by the Ministry of Agriculture to the audit findings was premature and could be deemed prejudicial in light of the fact that the final report has not yet been presented, Seeraj stated, “I don’t speak for the Ministry.”
The Ministry had described the report as unsubstantiated, by a person who has a personal agenda, and accused this newspaper of not checking the facts.
“The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) wishes to make clear that the statements contained in the Kaieteur Newspaper article dated Sunday, October 14, 2012 titled “Audit Report recommends dismissal of NDIA boss Lionel Wordsworth and Senior Engineer Aneel Chowbay” are misleading and inaccurate and only represent the interest of someone with a personal agenda.”

The report has also attracted the attention of Auditor General (ag), Deodat Sharma.
The state auditor had told this newspaper a week ago that while he has not received a copy of the field audit report, he is interested in it.
Sharma had said that he is waiting on the Chairman of the NDIA Board to send a copy to his office for investigations to commence.
Under the laws, the Auditor General and his office, an independent body, can descend without notice on state agencies and carry out checks.
According to Sharma, he will have to investigate the claims in the report because the Ministry of Agriculture is one of the entities that the Auditor General’s office is responsible for. He explained that field audit reports submitted to the Audit Committee of NDIA’s Board are sent to the Auditor General.
Sharma was unable to reveal if the Auditor General’s office discovered any discrepancies in the operations of NDIA whilst compiling the 2011 Auditor General Report.
That report shows that the NDIA was allotted $1.495B, out of which $1.228B was expended on the payment of contracts amounting to $1.227B and the purchases of office furniture to the tune of $1.128M.

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