Time for audit and criminal charges in Region 6

Dear Editor,
When the Auditor General’s Report was presented in the National Assembly in 2016, it stated, among other things, that 79 contracts, totalling $147.586 million, were not awarded to the lowest or the most competitive bidders; and it also stated that the reason why the lowest bidder was not awarded the contract was “inadvertently not included in the Regional Tender (Board’s) minutes”. The REO blamed the scribe who took the minutes!
In that year, I made it clear at the RDC statutory meeting that Section 39(6) (a) of the Procurement Act makes it pellucid that “all evaluation criteria for the procurement of goods, works and services, in addition to price, will be qualified in monetary terms, and the tender will be awarded to the lowest evaluated bid”. I further gave circumstances where this subsection had been blatantly violated, attesting to cronyism and corruption, and I gave clear examples where this was done on 7th July 2106.
In April this year, it was reported in the media that the Auditor General’s Report for 2016 showed overpayments of salaries amounted to $345,000, and now the PAC has discovered that there was contract-splitting to frustrate the objectives of the Procurement Act, and hence that deed was illegal.
A contract of $8.3 million for surgical gloves was split in three to fall below the $8 million ceiling which the Regional Tender Board can award, and though the REO denied this fact, she later admitted to the PAC that there was contract-splitting. This brings to mind the various versions of the bulldozer story.
Then there is an upsurge of new ‘contractors’ in Region 6, some of whom barely have access to a hammer. However, don’t be mistaken. Many of these new ‘contractors’ are actually ‘fronts’ for the real contractors, who work for the Coalition Government, or are councillors at the RDC, or are CDC workers, or are AFC party officials. For instance, an AFC RDC Councillor is now a pre-qualified ‘contractor’ in the Region.
Section (5) of the Procurement Act pronounce on the qualifications contractors should possess, and many of these contractors lack the capacity, so they sub-contract the works to the real contractors, who should have gotten the contracts in the first place. Therefore this scenario now creates ‘middlemen’ who will sell the contract.
What in effect is happening is that substandard work will result, since the contract price has to accommodate this split. Moreover, value for money is again lost, since it is alleged that the Engineer’s Estimate is grossly inflated to facilitate the kickbacks, while payments are being made for substandard works.
The Regional Vice Chairman, Mr Dennis DeRoop, on several occasions brought to the RDC the many instances of substandard work being done in the Region.
Another avenue for corruption is the plethora of ‘emergency’ works. While some were done under the pretext of ‘emergency’, others were simply given as ‘consultations’ to projects which are yet to be budgeted for. There are instances when exorbitantly priced works, such as excavations, have been done, but should not have incurred such high costs.
Undoubtedly, there is an urgent need for a forensic audit of the Tender Board in Region Six, to dig into these corrupt practices of the Tender Board. The entire tendering process should be investigated, and the awarding of contracts and the background and experience and qualifications of these contractors should come under microscopic scrutiny.
These corrupt practices are rapidly eating away at the economic development of this Region. The Government is expending hundreds of millions, only for this money to be thrown away by corrupt officials in the Region. It is time to stamp out corruption in Region 6. The corruption in Region 6 has reached alarming proportions, and is unprecedented.
Finally, should not the Region 6 REO be charged with misconduct in public office? Should the RDC not move a vote of no confidence against her? Ramayya was the recipient of several such motions for far less evil.

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
RDC Councillor,
Region 6