Even as State Auditors are probing allegations of fraud in the National School Feeding Programme, things have progressed to the point where the Guyana Police Force has been called in and an official report made.
This was confirmed by Auditor General Deodat Sharma. According to Sharma, contrary to media reports the probe has not been completed. In light of this, the Auditor General when asked could not divulge what major recommendations have been made.
“The report has not been completed. We are presently still investigating it although the Police have also been asked to look into the matter,” Sharma related, in a brief interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday.
The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the education sector, which was completed earlier this year, had recommended that an investigation be launched into the school feeding programme to ensure Government was getting value for money.
Following this recommendation, State Auditors had embarked on an investigation targeting the programme. They had reportedly found major “spending” inconsistencies plaguing the programme in two remote villages in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) during the period 2016/2017.
Notwithstanding the lofty ideals of the programme, coordinators in the red-flagged region have reportedly been abusing the responsibility and power vested in them.
The particular scrutiny that was brought to bear into the expenditures for each meal revealed that costs were inflated. This had raised further queries as to whether the correct procurement procedures were followed during the award of the contracts.
Some $1.3 billion and $1.9 billion were injected into the programme in the years 2016 and 2017 respectively. It was set up in all 10 administrative regions. It was the previous Administration that had started the National School Feeding Programme in February 2010.
The National School Feeding Programme targets all nursery and primary school students in Grades One and Two. The school feeding programme was implemented in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and 10 and Georgetown. Regions Seven, Eight and Nine are treated separately. The programme consists of biscuits and juices.
