Damning Audit report : Couldn’t have been worse !!!

Shocking!

Some juicy extracts:

• Lapses were noted in the procurement of medical equipment and supplies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. These lapses included absence of proper documentation at the different stages of the emergency procurement process, non-compliance with the legal requirements and inadequate assessment of fairness and reasonableness of prices quoted by suppliers. As a result, there was inadequate assurance that the principles of value for money and transparency had been adhered to.

• For example, at the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), proper records on emergency procurement as required under Directive 44 of the Procurement Policy Office were not kept. The absence of documentation flouted the principles of good governance, in particular transparency in the management of public funds.

• Medical disposables to the tune of Rs 850 million were purchased from private companies which had no previous dealings with the MOHW in such goods. The average prices paid for some medical disposables were up to 67 times higher than the last price paid for.

• Lapses were also noted in the normal procurement proceedings of Ministries and Departments. For instance, the contract for the “Safe City Project” for some Rs 16 billion was awarded directly to a private company on an operating lease model for a 20-year period. No evidence was produced to NAO to the effect that an assessment was made to ascertain the fairness of the lease payments made by the Police Service under the contract, and thus that the procurement was undertaken in the most economical manner.

• It is a fact that contracts awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic were effected in exceptional circumstances, but it remains essential that decisions are properly documented and made transparent if government is to maintain public trust that taxpayers’ money is being spent appropriately and fairly

• The whole public procurement process, including current legal provisions and procedures, must be reviewed with a view to strengthening accountability and transparency and ensuring that emergency procurement does not become a fertile ground for the commission of financial abuses and malpractices at the expense of taxpayers.

• Also, extracts of the decisions taken by the High Level Committee for COVID-19 (set up under the aegis of the Prime Minister’s Office) regarding the EP of medical products were not made available.

• A High Level Committee on COVID-19 chaired by the Prime Minister was instituted to monitor both local and international epidemiological situations and for rapidly sharing of key information among the different Ministries and other stakeholders on 31 January 2020. On the basis of my audit, I have concluded that the different Ministries/Departments had, instead of implementing the decisions of the High Level Committee on COVID-19 in accordance with rules and regulations, construed these decisions as directives. For instance, in relation to the award of contract made directly to a foreign company by MOHW for ICU ventilators and the purchase of medical products by the MCCP, the Ministries have abdicated their responsibilities to ensure that the procurement exercises were effected on a rule based approach and to ensure the proper and efficient use of public funds.

• For procurements where there is no competition, it is important that awarding bodies set out clearly why they have chosen a particular supplier, and how any risks associated with absence of competition are to be identified and mitigated. This is to ensure public trust in the fairness of the procurement process.

• The lack of monitoring in the midst of the crisis has resulted in some Rs 94 million paid for Defective ventilators and Rs 853.7 million for medical disposables purchased from companies which had no history of providing medical products to Government, and abnormally high prices being paid by the MOHW (up to 67 times higher than the last price paid for medical disposables by the Ministry).

On the issue of Public Sector Debt(PSD) the Audit Office seems to have backtracked and has aligned itself to the position of MOFED; we will come back on the colourable accounting In calculating PSD later.

If I were a Minister in this government….sorry, I could not be, because this is a unique crowd of cronies, unique in all sense…

If I were a member of the Opposition , I would have resigned because it would have be an affront to our citizens to be sitting and debating with such a crowd---the very ones who have been cheating us when our citizens were confined and fighting covid-19 and were losing their jobs......-a whole bunch of "voleurs"....

17Prakash Neerohoo, Raj Ramlugun and 15 others

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