'Act now to get back monies overpaid to contractors'

‘Act now to get back monies overpaid to contractors’

Mar 02, 2017 News

– PAC member urges Regional Officials

PAC Chairman, Irfaan Ali

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member, Charandass Persaud, has urged regional officials to strike now while the iron is hot, to recoup monies that were overpaid to delinquent contractors.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) member made this call at an extraordinary meeting that was convened at the Parliament Building between the PAC and regional officials, earlier this week.
The forum was intended to address irregularities that were cited in the Auditor General’s 2015 Audit report.
Charandass urged the officials to pull out all the stops before time elapses and ultimately adds to the difficulties that already exist in recouping the funds.
“We have to get back the money. We need to go after them rather than having the money sitting there – monies that were already paid and these people are laughing at us because we can’t get it back, because we waited too long to go after them.” Charandass lamented.
These overpayments were due to a number of reasons. The most reoccurring example voiced at the meeting, was that of monies being paid to contractors as mobilisation fees.
A mobilisation fee is a fraction of the contractual cost that is paid to the contractor to get his/her equipment to the site where the project is to be implemented.
In some cases, monies over the standard or required amount, is paid to the contractor and the works are not completed.
Charandass said that there is a trend where delinquent contractors are hiding in the shadows carrying out works for the region.
“I have a son and because I owe the Region money, I’m putting up my son as a contractor. He goes through the process of bidding for jobs that is how it is done generally,” Charandass said.
He also advised regional officials to be more vigilant and to look out for these practices.
The MP’s call was endorsed by the PAC Chairman and Opposition MP, Irfaan Ali, who stressed that the PAC is very serious about this issue of overpayment.
“Advance payments are not being recovered; advance payment in some cases is in excess of what is allowed in the standard bidding document.”
Ali also spoke about the prequalification of contractors where regions are prequalifying contractors only to have them disqualified and the contract awarded to another contractor at a higher price.
“ If you prequalify the contractor, the only thing that matters after then, is price, so why are we prequalifying contractors and then disqualifying them and giving them to another contractor at a higher price…This is something too that we have observed.”
Present at the meeting also, was the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, who urged that payments be paid to contractors for completed works.
Also, the issue of contracts not being given to the lowest evaluated bidders was also addressed by Sharma.
The Auditor General said that if a contract is not awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder, then the officials must be notified why this is so.

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