-despite criticising the current system

THE People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) has seemingly developed a case of amnesia concerning the levels of corruption during its stint in office, as the Chairman of the party, Shurwayne Holder, has stated that there was no need for rigid procuring measures when the APNU+AFC was in government.

During a press conference on Friday last, Holder was asked why the previous government did not make changes to the system since he expressed dissatisfaction.

In response, he said, “There would not have been the need at that time to introduce more stringent measures because what existed was clearly working.”

However, there have been several procurement breaches under the previous administration and the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has provided the platform for these violations to be exposed.

Last week, the PAC heard that there were breaches in the country’s procurement regulations by the regional administration for Region One in 2019 during the APNU+AFC’s tenure in office.

This came to light as the committee examined the Auditor General’s reports for 2019, which indicated that sections of the Procurement Act were breached as the Regional Democratic Council used the three-quote method of procurement for ten contracts totalling $60.567 million.

The report noted that, according to regulations made under the country’s procurement act, “The threshold foreseen in Section 27 (1) of the act for use of the request for quotations method for procurement shall be $3,000,000.”

With that, it was stated that the purchases to the tune of $60.5 million should have been publicly advertised and adjudicated by the regional tender board as the value exceeded the limit of $3 million.

The Regional Executive Officer, Mr. Sewchand, stated that since assuming the post earlier this year and before coming before the PAC, he checked for the relevant documents and was not able to retrieve same.

Moreover, he emphasised that he has implemented strategies to ensure the adoption of the most effective procurement method for the provision of goods and services since assuming office.

Further, the committee asked for the assistance of the auditor general’s office and whether during the audit process, they were able to find the contracts for the projects.

The representative present at the PAC, while noting that they did not have the contracts, said that the $60.5 million catered for the procurement of generators, purchase of medical equipment and electrical hardware, among other things.

Further, the PAC delved into revelations from the Auditor General’s (AG) report of 2019 during its session in February, uncovering substantial expenditures related to the maintenance of vehicles in Region Six. Specifically, attention was drawn to the staggering costs associated with maintaining three ‘David G’ buses, amounting to millions of dollars.