–under then Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs

ALTHOUGH the 2018 Auditor General’s report flagged the APNU+AFC’s Indigenous Peoples Affairs Ministry for signing over $46.197 million in contracts before they were awarded by the relevant authorities, the ministry continued with the practice in 2019, and signed at least $84.097 million in contracts prior to their being awarded.

The issue was scrutinised before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, during which meeting Committee Members Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo and Dharamkumar Seeraj pitched serious questions.

“How could the persons signing the contract know who the contract would be awarded to? My question to the Permanent Secretary is: Is there any information that would inform us how a contract was signed before the award, and how the person signing had knowledge of who the contract would be awarded to? What systems do you have in place that this is not going to happen again?” Dr. Mahadeo queried.

In response, Acting Permanent Secretary (PS) of the now Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MoAA), Ryan Toolsiram said that the ministry is currently adhering to proper procurement procedures.

Going through the 2019 Audit Report, Seeraj referenced instances of a $19.405 million contract being awarded for the completion of a dormitory at Liliendaal, and a hostel at Princess Street, Georgetown, and the provision for living quarters.

Investigations by the Audit Office revealed that while this contract was awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Award Board (NPTAB) on December 23, 2019, this was after the ministry would have already signed with a contractor on December 16, 2019, a whole week prior to the award.

Further, the ministry issued a Commencement Order on December 17, 2019, once again on a date prior to the award of the contract.

“Can the PS explain to us how is it that the ministry will engage and sign a contract on the 16th December, 2019, issue a commencement order on the 17th December, 2019, and they received the approval from the NPTAB on the 23 December?” Seeraj probed.

Responding to this, Toolsiram said that attempts to contact the former PS for answers in this regard have proven futile.

“We were trying to engage the former Permanent Secretary so that we could address some of these things; this is clearly a breach. In their response [to the audit findings], they would’ve acknowledged this, so I can only say because we were not able to meet with the former PS, and based on the response that they would have provided in 2019, I could only say that they would’ve accepted that they erred,” Toolsiram clarified.

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Aside from the $19 million contract, the 2019 Audit Report would’ve also flagged a similar procurement breach in the case of another $64.692 million contract for the purchase of boats, engines, buses, vehicles and ATVs.

According to the Audit Report, while the award of this contract was granted by NPTAB on December 30, 2019, the contract was signed between the ministry and the contractor on December 5, 2019, more than three weeks prior to the contract being awarded.

The Auditor-General (AG) described the situation as a “clear deviation from the procurement process.”

“The intent of the Procurement Act was to promote the integrity of, and fairness and public confidence in, the procurement process, and achieving transparency in the procedures relating to procurement,” the Report said.

Responding to the breaches, the ministry issued a reply, promising to desist from the breaches, however, the breaches were already part of a pattern, and the ministry simply mirrored promises made in 2018, when similar behaviour was flagged.

“The Head of the Budget Agency acknowledged this finding, and committed to refrain from such actions in the future,” the ministry responded in 2019.

However, in response to the same kind of breaches taking place in 2018, the ministry had said: “The Head of the Budget Agency acknowledged the findings and promised to be more efficient in our planning to remedy this process.”

In 2018, under the MoIPA at least 42 contracts totaling $46.197 million were signed on to by the ministry with a selected contractor, prior to contractor being selected in a transparent procurement process.