— Auditor General to launch investigation

By Naomi Parris
TWO contracts that were enlisted under the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) have been suspended, pending an investigation by the Auditor General.
Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, during a press conference, told reporters that the two contracts, one worth over $64 million and the another $34 million, for operating, servicing and monitoring of the authority’s hydraulic excavators have been placed on hold, after it was discovered by the ministry that the contracts would have been extended with no formal approval or variation.

According to the minister, the first contract was awarded on July 01, 2020 for $64,716,350 and the hired contractors would have operated and supervised all NDIA’s machines as well as provided fuel for the machines.

He added that the contractors would have budgeted for digging approximately 44,000 rods of channels, and excavating 75,000 cubic yards of canals.
The minister further disclosed that the contractor would have cleared 25,000 rods out of the 75,000 that was contracted to clear and dug 1001 cubic yards of canals.
However, the minister stated that the said contract was extended without any assessment of work done.
The first contract, according to the minister was extended without any formal request, which is a cause for concern.
“After they would have extended that contract and increased the sum (to an additional $46.5M), they then sold it to the tender board. The tender board then will have to send it to Cabinet for no objection,” he said.
In relation to the second contract, he disclosed that the contract was awarded on July 06, 2020 for approximately $34, 114,275 million and was extended to an additional $35 million.

REVAMPING OPERATIONS
“This is cause for concern, I also sent this to the Auditor General for him to advise us… places like the NDIA and other entities, we are looking seriously to revamp the operation in these places because a lot of funds are going to these places and we have to have value for our money,” he said.
This, he said, “Shows the means of how contracts used to be awarded under the guise of variation just to be manipulated and give to families and preferred contractors.”
The minister disclosed that the budgeted quantities for the second contract were 28,000 rods of channel to be cleared and 30,000 cubic yards of canals to be excavated.
To date, the contractor would have completed 19,880 rods and cleared 21,300 cubic yards of the canal; less than the amount that was budgeted for, but, again, the contract was extended to $35 million although the contractor would have completed less work.

“When this was discovered, as minister, I put it on hold. We can’t do things like this. I have since sent it to the Auditor General to launch an investigation in this matter and I am waiting on him before I advise Cabinet on the way forward,” Minister Mustapha said adding: “This goes to show how these entities have been operating through the years.”
The minister stated that, in these cases, the Government is often blamed, and as such, he is working to ensure that every penny is accounted for, hence, the reason for sharing the details of the said contracts.

However, at the time of the briefing, he stated that he cannot disclose the names of the contractors; nevertheless, he said members of the media will be updated on the matter as the investigation proceeds.

“I know that there are a lot of people looking at these entities having large sums of money, billions of dollars, tax payers’ money and as minister I want to ensure that we get value for these monies and I will take a closer look in the New Year,” he said.