CHEQUE orders, required to be cleared within 16 days of their issuance through the submission of bills and/or receipts and other supporting documents, take an average of 45 days to be cleared in Region Six.This is according to the 2015 Auditor General’s Report, which pointed out that as at July this year, 294 cheque orders, valued at $155.2M, remained outstanding for the years 2010 to 2015. As a result of this situation, the Auditor General said, it cannot be ascertained whether the region received full value for all sums expended.

The region, for its part, has said it is making every effort to locate all prior outstanding cheque orders by compiling a list of all present and former employees who signed to uplift the orders, so that they can advise the administration on the whereabouts of those cheque orders, in order that they can be cleared.

In an effort to address the problem, the Audit Office has recommended that the Region Six Administration renew its efforts to have these outstanding cheque orders cleared, and submit the necessary documentation to the Audit Office for verification.

The Region Six Administration is also still to recover overpayments made on 14 contracts for the years 2010, 2011, and 2013 and totalling $9.2M. The region has indicated that apart from writing the contractors, several meetings were held with them, at which they were admonished to refund the overpaid sums. No refunds have as yet been received, and the regional administration is looking at the possibility of withholding payments to contractors who have not yet settled their indebtedness.

The Auditor Office is urging Region Six to put systems in place to avoid a recurrence of the current situation.

The Audit Office has also noted that the contract for the construction of the Outpatient Department Building, phase two at the New Amsterdam Hospital, has been awarded in the sum of $7.9M to the sixth of seven lowest bidders.

“There was an approved variation of $1M, giving a final project cost of $8.2M against the engineer’s estimate of $8.9M. As at December 2015, the contractor was paid in full. At the time of the physical verification, the works were deemed completed; however, the final payment vouchers were not seen,” the Auditor General pointed out.

Because of this situation, payments made could not be correlated with the measured works, to determine whether or not the total payment for actual works completed was fair and reasonable.

In addition, it was noted that the scope of works was significantly altered after the award of the contract, resulting in ceiling works, electrical installations, painting and finishes, tiling and internal panel doors not being completed. “We were advised that other works were completed instead; however, no verification orders or approvals were seen,” the Auditor General said in his report.

He recommended that Region Six seeks the necessary approvals before variations are made, since variations result in significant changes in scope of work from the original contract signed.