Udit flags spending by erod Duncan at GNNL
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The New York trip which took place in the company of the marketing coordinator for the resuscitation of the publication’s New York edition cost in excess of $736,028, but according to the report “there was no approval from the Minister for such an event and to date, no relevant documents were brought forward to support these expenditures.”
Duncan in his response argued that the relaunch of the New York Edition was approved by the subject Minister.
He noted that while overseas relaunching the New York Edition “our team encountered challenges with establishments, such as the hotel where they were booked, accepting cash. Consequently in the absence of a company credit card the US Distributor and Focal Point Person undertook to pay for same and make other critical payments from his credit card in exchange for the cash they had on hand”.
Duncan maintained that every effort is being made the get the relevant documentation from this person.
Similar questions surrounding the spending of $200,000 on a July 2018 trip to Lethem were not answered.
Also unanswered were questions related to the spending of $721,000 to repair one of the company’s vehicles used by Duncan.
The embattled General Manager is accused of making payments outside of the established approval process and in the absence of a contract to validate such. Payments in this area were also made to persons whose name did not appear on the payment invoice for which no receipts were provided nor was the work certified satisfactorily done.
“The air condition unit was serviced in May at a cost of $22,000 and again in August at a cost of $50,000,” the report states adding that “repairs were done by a mechanic other than the company’s prequalified mechanic.”