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PAC flags late delivery of fire boat – contract signed in 2017, vessel arrived in 2019
Kaieteur News – In 2017, a contract was awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board via sole sourcing of $307.457M for the procurement of one multi-purpose fire rescue boat for the Guyana Fire Service.
The fire boat that was purchased by the Guyana Fire Service
Based on the audit report, the contract was signed on August 4, 2017.
However, based on the record of the audit report, the boat was delivered to Guyana’s shore two years after the contract was signed.
The issue came up before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday when officials of the Home Affairs Ministry presented. There was notably no representative of the Guyana Fire Service to respond to some of the questions raised.
According to information presented, after the contract was signed, on December 31, 2017, the amount of $131.354M was paid to the contractor.
The report noted that approval was granted for a multi-year contract by the Finance Secretary and the final payment was budgeted for in 2018. However, at the time of audit reporting in 2017, the boat was not received although 10 months had elapsed.
Nevertheless, it was noted that the supplier indicated that the boat would be shipped in on November 5, 2018.
The Audit Office, therefore, had recommended that the Ministry follow-up this matter with the supplier to have the boat delivered and provide the Audit Office with the necessary documentations upon delivery.
According to the document, the sum of $330M was budgeted for the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme and Citizen Security Programme II for 2017. Supplementary allotments totalling $268.663M were then approved, giving a revised budgetary allocation of $598.663M.
According to the Appropriation Accounts, the full amount was expended. The two projects were funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and are subjected to separate financial reporting and audit.
The sum of $431.835M was allotted for the purchase of office furniture, equipment, agricultural tools, communication and other equipment for the Ministry’s Secretariat, the Guyana Police Force as well as the Prison and Fire Services.
A Supplementary Allotment of $8.877M was approved, revising the budgetary allocation to $440.712M. According to the Appropriation Accounts, amounts totalling $439.749M were expended during the year.
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