Auditor General concerned about Education Ministry’s procurement practices

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 | 9:58 AM, Source - Jamaica Observer  

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Auditor General has cautioned the Ministry of Education to ensure that all its procurement activities are in full compliance with the government’s handbook on public sector procurement.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis says that the Ministry should ensure that its procurement committee is properly constituted, and insist on the regular attendance of its members and that minutes are prepared for all meetings.

In her latest audit report on the operations of government ministries, departments and agencies, tabled yesterday in the House of Representatives, she said during her office’s audit of the ministry last year, “the ministry did not demonstrate that the activities of the procurement committee were in compliance with the government’s handbook”.

“The absence of proper records of the meetings contravenes the handbook of public sector procurement procedures, which states that, ‘proper minutes must be recorded and maintained for each meeting’. The guidelines also require that the quorum of the meeting should be predetermined by the chairman, and no meeting shall be properly convened in the absence of this quorum,” she pointed out.

She noted that at meetings held on February 29, 2012 and July 31, 2013, only two members of the committee were present. However, recommendations were made at that meeting to the National Contracts Commission (NCC) for approval to purchase goods and services valued at approximately $550 million.

The quorum for the meetings is five persons- four members and an observer.

Balford Henry