GPF forced to abandon 35 out of 150 Chinese-made vehicles

GPF forced to abandon 35 out of 150 Chinese-made vehicles – AG Report

Jan 09, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) abandoned 35 out of 150 Chinese made vehicles in the year 2020. The Auditor General report outlined that the vehicles were abandoned after the GPF encountered difficulty sourcing spare parts to fix their mechanical problems.

The Chinese-made police vehicles.

According to the report, the Force under A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration presented a list detailing 35 vehicles that were left at workshops across the country to be repaired for various reasons.
Based on the observation, the auditors said that 25 vehicles were at the workshop in excess of 18 months while seven were there between nine to 16 months. The remaining four vehicles were proposed to be there longer.
The Force explained that the majority of the vehicles were not repaired because the contractors encountered difficulties in sourcing the required spare parts to fix the vehicles.
It was therefore recommended that the vehicles be collected by the transport workshop, in view of having them there for spare parts. The Audit Office noted that a similar situation was observed in 2019 where vehicles were in the workshop in excess of 18 month. According to the report, amounts totalling $139.821M were expended on vehicle spares and services to the Force’s fleet of vehicles.
An analysis carried out on maintenance cost for a sample of 147 vehicles, revealed that 66 vehicles incurred high maintenance cost totalling $60.439M.
The Force explained that the substitute parts such as engine, gear box, suspension, etc., that are required to maintain the Chinese vehicles were costly.
According to the report, the company that manufactures these vehicles have since closed its operations hence substitute parts that were sourced elsewhere are costly. As such, the Audit Office had recommended that the GPF monitor closely the maintenance of its fleet of motor vehicles and consider whether it is economical to retain or dispose of these vehicles.
The AG report also outlined that Section 29 of the GPF’s Stores Regulations and circularised instructions, requires log books to be maintained for all motor vehicles, plant, machinery and equipment owned/or operated by the Force.
However, while there were 378 serviceable vehicles/equipment owned and controlled by the Force, Log Books were not presented for 128 vehicles. In addition, there were partial submissions in respect of 121 vehicles.
The GPF explained that instructions were given through the transport officer to have all logs updated and submitted for auditing purposes. The Audit Office had therefore recommended that the Force comply fully with the Stores Regulation.

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