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Coalition Govt. sold derelict vehicles below value – PAC hears
– person who did not bid among beneficiaries
Kaieteur News – In 2017, the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs sold derelict vehicles way below their estimated market value and it was found too that this occurred, in one instance, without advertisement, and, added to this, a sale was finalised with an individual who did not even put in a bid.
PAC Chair, Jermaine Figueira.
This is reflected in the Auditor General’s 2017 Report. Several questions relating to the sale of the derelict vehicles came to the fore of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday after People’s Progressive Party/Civic Parliamentarian and PAC member, Dharamkumar Seeraj raised questions about the issue.
Alluding to the report, Seeraj pointed out that the vehicles were sold for just a tiny fraction of the estimated costs. All the transactions were done while the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) was in office.
The PAC member noted that, “At the time of audit, three vehicles were sold – a Toyota pick-up, a Nissan Frontier and a Toyota Coaster bus. The Toyota pick-up was valued at $500,000 and was sold for $50,000. This vehicle was not advertised for sale, hence no bids were received.
The Nissan Frontier valuated at $100,000 was sold for $50,000. However, the highest bid for this vehicle was $500,000.
The PAC member explained that based on the report, the Ministry received approval for the sale of six unserviceable vehicles on 23rd June, 2017 from the Ministry of Finance.
Permanent Secretary, Alfred King.
But what made the sale questionable, Seeraj said, is the fact that one of the vehicles – the Nissan Frontier vehicle – was sold to an individual who did not bid for the vehicle; and the Toyota Coaster bus that was valued at $950,000 was sold for $301,000 to the third highest of the seven bidders. The highest bidder offered more than $1M for the bus.
Acting Permanent Secretary (PS), Ryan Tulsiram, and former PS, Alfred King, were both called upon to provide explanations on the sales.
King and Tulsiram both claimed that procedures were followed in accordance with the Procurement Act/Financial Circular.
They explained that the vehicles needed to be removed to allow for the expansion of the Ministry’s building. King added that several national training bodies were contacted but refused the vehicles and that the highest responsive bidder failed to come forward and complete the purchase.
He claimed further that they were all crashed vehicles with the Nissan Frontier being “just a shell.” However, their response left more questions than answer. As such, PPP/C’s Sanjeev Datadin pressed the accounting officers for answers about the transactions.
“How is it that there was no advertisement but a sale was done, and if it was not advertised, how did they get bidders? And in the other instance, the person who bought the vehicle did not even put in a bid. What happened here?” Datadin asked.
In response, King noted that they were “walk-in bids” since the efforts to discard the vehicles proved futile. He claimed that although the bids were placed on the vehicles, the bidders did not come up with the cash. As a result, King noted that the Ministry took steps to have the vehicles removed from the Ministry’s premises.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill
He claimed that the vehicles had been in the Ministry’s compound for months hampering efforts to expand the building.
The answer given by the PS seemed unsatisfactory as Minister of Public Works and PAC member, Juan Edghill enquired about the names of the purchasers – a request that was immediately met with rejection by former Minister of Public Works, David Patterson, and supported by Chairman of the PAC, Jermaine Figueira.
In turn, Edghill accused Figueira and three other APNU+AFC members of the PAC of attempting to suppress the release of information of the irregular sales that occurred while the Coalition was in government.
“Who were the buyers?” Edghill pressed, as he enquired whether Patterson had knowledge of the sale, having been the minister at the time, and reiterated that there was an attempt to “suppress information.”
Figueira ruled that Edghill was “out of order” and instructed that the minister’s microphone be muted.
“I am chairing this meeting,” Figueira asserted. The minister persisted, “…I am making a point and you are interrupting…you and your members have an interest in this matter…was the buyers members of staff and/or related to members of the ministry? Or was [it] a government official?” Edghill questioned. Nevertheless, the session ended without Minister Edghill receiving the relevant answers.
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