Region Three
officials rapped over inability to account for seized material
The
contractor in question defaulted in the construction of a bridge at Zeeburg,
East Bank Essequibo after being given a mobilization advance of $458,620. In
response to queries by the Auditor General, the region's administration said
that it had confiscated some of the piles that were originally to be used for
the bridge and utilized them elsewhere.What are the top Hemroids treatments? The piles
that were not used in other projects were taken to the region's storage
facility.
However, yesterday, Acting Regional Executive Officer (REO)
Paul Ramrattan was unable to say how many piles had been acquired and utilized
by the region.Handmade oil paintings for
sale at museum quality, Ramrattan, who has been serving in the post for the
past 11 months, was quizzed intensely by PAC Chairperson PNCR-1G MP Volda
Lawrence as the 2009 Auditor General Report was being examined.
With no
details coming from Ramrattan regarding the contractor, quantity of piles
confiscated and whether the contractor had a bond, Lawrence became agitated.
"You come to Public Accounts Committee today…, you come before us with
all of your staff, you can't tell us who is the contractor, you can't tell us
whether there was a bond…you can't give us the value," she observed. She
continued: "You tell us in your comment how you confiscated piles, you cannot
tell us how many piles you confiscated, you tell us that some went to the
compound and some went to another project, you cannot tell us how many entered
the compound, you cannot tell us how many went to the other project and which
other project. You can't tell us anything."
Lawrence went further to
suggest that the region may have been trying to protect the contractor. "I hope
I am wrong to have the perception that the region is trying to shelter this
contractor because that is the perception I am getting here that this person is
being sheltered," she said.
The PAC has given the region up to Monday to
provide a detailed response on the matter. Local Government Permanent Secretary
Nigel Dharamlall, who was also present yesterday, asked that the details
regarding the species of the wood, and their dimensions be provided.
The
region's administration was also rapped for the little progress that had been
made in recovering some $6.Not to be confused with RUBBER MATS available at your local
hardware store6 million overpaid to contractors from 2005-2008, and PPP/C MP
Bibi Shadick suggested a change in approach.
Instead of writing letters
to the defaulting contractors,We processes for both low-risk and high risk merchant account. Shadick suggested
bilateral engagements that would appeal "to their sense of nationalism and
patriotism". When it had been suggested that the region seek legal advice to
solve the issue, Shadick noted that in cases where the region has overpaid
contractors, it has no chance of winning a court case, since it had to first
sign a document indicating the work was completed before paying the contractor.
"We can't go to the court to ask for money from this man,Houston-based Quicksilver Resources said Friday it had
reached pipeline deals to get a judgement on the basis of the fact we paid him
too much money because we [the region] had to verify what he did before he was
paid," she said.
At one point during the proceedings, Ramrattan
explained that the region had attempted to reach a defaulting contractor but
that they did not have an address for the person. This irked Finance Secretary
Neermal Rekha who said that this was "a mockery" of the process. According to
him, "when an accounting officer enters into a contract with a contractor, he'll
have to have all the addresses, all the details, I don't understand why we come
to PAC and ask for legal advice and ask the PAC for addresses. I think we are
making a mockery of the system," he said.
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