$19M CCTV system paid for since 2015 still to be delivered - AG Report

$19M CCTV system paid for since 2015 still to be delivered – AG Report

Dec 28, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – A $19M Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system paid for by the Government of Guyana (GoG) since 2015 is yet to be delivered.

Flagging this was the Auditor General (AG), Deodat Sharma in his 2022 Audit Report. According to the report, the system was purchased for the National Intelligence Centre for some $19.108M.

The matter was reported to the AG’s office for guidance on the way forward. The Office of the President which was the agency under inspection by the AG responded that the Attorney General has since informed that legal action cannot be taken.

“The Finance Secretary was written to for a write-off of this purchase after Public Accounts Committee advised that it was an option to be explored after advice from the Attorney General’s Chambers posited that too much time had elapsed to legally pursue this matter,” the President’s Office stated. It added that measures have since been adopted to ensure that non-delivery of assets does not reoccur.

Meanwhile, the AG recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency submit an update to the Audit Office when this matter is resolved.

It was reported that the contract was awarded on December 14, 2015 to ‘Moonblink Communication Incorporated’, a US company based in California.

At a PAC Meeting in February last year the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Office of the President, Abena Moore indicated that the administration will be seeking a write-off of the $19M. Moore told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) 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.

Auditor General (AG), Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Deodat Sharma, Government, Office of the President

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