Audit questions Tk 193cr Covid expenditure
The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has raised objections about Tk 193 crore spent by the Covid-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
The objections have been sent to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) as they were not disposed of after the CAG audited the project's accounts. The objections were discussed in a PAC meeting yesterday.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is implementing the three-year project financed by the World Bank on an emergency basis.
According to meeting sources, 12 of the unresolved audit objections were tabled at the PAC meeting.
It is said in the audit objections that the government lost Tk 1.24 crore due to supply of KN95 masks not worthy of use. Besides, the government incurred a loss of Tk 10.4 lakh due to supply of fewer KN95 masks than contracted.
Irregularities were found in receipt of Tk 32.85 crore regarding the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), KN95 masks and infrared thermometers.
PPE, masks and gloves were bought by inking a Tk 59.4 crore contract with incompetent and inexperienced suppliers.
According to the objections, medical supplies worth Tk 47.26 crore purchased under the project were left unused.
Due to purchase of similar medical supplies at different rates in the same period, the government suffered a loss of Tk 17.10 crore.
Non-deduction and under-deduction of VAT and income tax from suppliers cost the government Tk 1.13 crore.
Due to a failure to deposit VAT and income tax on time in the government's treasury, the government's revenue loss including penalty interest was Tk 5.92 crore.
In violation of Public Procurement Rules-2008, work worth Tk 10.82 crore was contracted without taking security money.
Tk 6.18 crore were irregularly spent on mobile apps, software development, etc. through consultant firm.
Due to the failure of the suppliers to deliver the goods within the stipulated time, the government incurred a loss of Tk 4.19 crore as the project authorities paid the bill without imposing the delay penalty as per the terms of the contract.
The government has incurred a loss of Tk 7.70 crore due to the purchase of medical supplies at prices higher than those mentioned in the Development Project Proposal.
Meanwhile, the Parliament Secretariat in a press release saidPAC recommended taking appropriate action subject to an investigation by the ACC regarding the losses due to the supply of unusable and low quantity KN95 masks.
PAC also recommended forming a committee, comprising additional secretary of the health ministry, the director general of DGHS and the CAG director, to investigate procurement of personal protective equipment, masks and gloves.
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