Reg. 7 breached Procurement Act in awarding $22M in contracts without public tendering – AG Report reveals
Guyana
The Regional Administration of Region Seven breached the Procurement Act of 2003 when it awarded $22 million in contracts without public tendering, the Auditor General’s report of 2023 revealed.
The contract awards surpassed the legal limit of $3million.
According to the Auditor General, the regulations made under the Procurement Act 2003 – Amendment of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations, Item 2, stipulates that “The threshold foreseen in section 27(1) of the Act for use of the request for quotations method of procurement shall be $3,000,000.”
However, upon examination, the Audit Office discovered that the Regional Administration expended amounts totaling $22.969 million for the supply of dietary supplies for D.C Caesar Fox Secondary Dormitory through the processing of four Payment Vouchers.
“The Regional Democratic Council (RDC) breached the aforementioned regulations since the three-quote method of procurement was utilised. These purchases should have been publicly advertised and adjudicated by the Regional Tender Board due to the value exceeding the limit of $3M,” the AG pointed out.
Providing a breakdown of the $22 million purchases, the Audit Office detailed that the dietary supplies including flour, sugar, milk, blackeye peas, and butter among others were bought for $5,626,000.
Image credit: Marco Verch Professional Photographer (flickr)