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PS to seek write off of $19.5M spent on undelivered CCTV cameras
Kaieteur News – Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Office of the President, Abena Moore will be seeking a write-off of a $19.5M that is owed by a US company which failed to deliver CCTV cameras purchased by the APNU+AFC administration in 2015.
Permanent Secretary: Abena Moore.
Moore told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday that the decision was taken after it was noted that recovering the monies through the US court system would be tedious and costly.
She noted, “The position remains the same; however I recently received a legal opinion, which I’m guided by now, and I’m soon to approach the FS (Financial Secretary) so that this matter could finally be written off. Because from the legal opinion it was said that time has elapsed, it is now five plus years and if you’re going to bring a matter before the court it is supposed to be three years…”
“That’s with the Guyana situation. If we still want to pursue, we’d have to hire an attorney in the US, so that those laws over there can apply to the particular situation. So that’s just an update on the matter,” Moore explained, while giving an update to the committee.
As a result, PS Moore said the Office of the President will be approaching the Finance Secretary to have the sums written off.
When the matter came up last year, both the PAC Chairman and fellow PAC Members Gail Teixeira and Ganesh Mahipaul, had urged the PS to ensure that all steps are exhausted before a write off of the money is even considered.
Auditor General, Deodat Sharma had reported that, “the CCTV systems with a cost of $19.108M, which was purchased during 2015 for the National Intelligence Centre, had still not been delivered. However, it was noted that the Ministry had engaged the Attorney General’s Office on a way forward on this matter.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the President’s response explained that the Head of Budget Agency stated that this matter was discussed at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in July 2021 when the 2015 Audit was being done. The Ministry added that it has since written to the current Attorney General to be advised on the way forward.
In this regard, the Audit Office recommended that the Head of Budget Agency submit an update to the Office when the Attorney General’s advice is received.
Kaieteur News understands that the purchase was made under the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, after elections were held in 2015.
The contract was reportedly awarded on December 14, 2015 to ‘Moonblink Communication Incorporated’, a US company based in California.
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