PS says loss report being prepped for missing synthetic track equipment

2017-06-28 -

The lax security for items purchased for the public sector was highlighted during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing last week Monday, when it was heard that more than US$18,000 worth of items were purchased and received for the Synthetic Track months before the stores were actually established, and more than US$3,000 worth of that equipment cannot be found.

The missing equipment, a Seiko Track and Field Electronic System and a Starting Gun valued at US$2,985 and US$159, respectively, according to the Auditor General’s 2015 report, were received by Department of Culture, Youth and Sport officials but the items were never entered into the register, Education Ministry Permanent Secretary (PS) Melissa Tucker told the PAC.

Tucker, updating the committee, said that she had received a police report in April stating that there was no evidence to implicate anyone in theft and, therefore, she was in the process of preparing a loss report. Tucker said that the police report she received was passed on to the Auditor General.

“I hope that this is a lesson not only for this ministry, but too many times in the government system there is little or no emphasis placed on stores and the security of billions of dollars of items. We always don’t have staff, we’re not planning ahead. I mean from the time they had put in that request one would have expected that if nothing else was in place the fact that they are purchasing that the department to receive, store and take account of those items would start to take shape,” committee member Minister Volda Lawrence said, while noting that the security and accountability of items bought in various government agencies are not given the priority they ought to be given.

The 2015 Auditor General’s report states that in 2015 a contract for US$18,458, equivalent to $3.847 million, was awarded to procure additional equipment for the Synthetic Track, but at the time of report, there was no evidence that the Seiko Track and Field Electronic System and the Starting Gun were received.

Trading blame

Meanwhile, there was much passing of blame at the hearing on Monday, which PAC Chairman Irfaan Ali referred to as “passing the buck.”

Putting the incident down to “delinquency as it relates to the stores officer,” former PS Alfred King told the PAC that the articles were received in containers by two officers who checked and received the items.

He said that based on the report, all items were received. After this, King said that “Heywood” should have followed up with all the entries required by the stores regulations.

In his defence, Procurement Officer Dennis Heywood said that all the items were received at the track, including the clock and gun, and it was the caretaker who had signed upon its receipt and had taken control of the items.

“Prior to that, there wasn’t a store

Bids were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the rehabilitation of roads in Lethem and three police stations.

The companies and their bids are as follows:

Ministry of Public Infrastructure

Supply and Delivery of Road Safety Materials

Rehabilitation of Township Road, Network, Lethem, Region 9

Ministry of Public Security

Rehabilitation of the Alberttown Police Station, Georgetown

Rehabilitation of Sparendaam Police Station, Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara

Rehabilitation of Mahaicony Police Station, Mahaicony

Ministry of Social Protection

Provision of Security Services for All MOSP Locations

Supply of Delivery of Cooked Meals for Night Shelter

Construction of Drop in Centre-Block C Sophia Georgetown Guyana