The auditor-general’s 2020 report has revealed that even though Section 52 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) enjoins the Principal Spending Officers of covered entities to ensure that proper control systems exist for the custody and management of assets, it noted during its project inspection that 10 residential accommodations made up of eight senior and two junior staff house projects have been abandoned by the Ghana Cocoa Board since 2011.
The report said “our quest to know the reason for abandonment from the Principal Works Superintendent disclosed that the project was awarded at Ghana Cocoa Board Head office and a copy of the bill of quantity was not made available to them to determine the contractor’s name, contract sum, approved works to be carried out, and whether the contract sum has been fully paid for or not”.
“The award of contract, mode of payment, project inspection and supervision are done by Cocoa House instead of the Institute, hence they could not determine the percentage of completion and whether the abandoned projects are fully paid for,” the report said.
It noted that the current situation could lead to higher future completion cost and loss of revenue to the Institute.
Also, it added, the staff have been denied official accommodation due to the abandonment of the project.
“We urged management to liaise with the Head Office to get the team all the documents covering the contracts for our scrutiny”, the report said.
The management of COCOBOD, on the other and, said two out of the eight residential staff quarters namely B17 and B25 have been awarded on contract and works are ongoing.
The remaining six residential staff quarters are currently at the tendering stage.
Defect on a COCOBOD Renovated Building
Also, the report said even though Section 52 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) enjoins the Principal Spending Officers of covered entities to ensure that proper control systems exist for the custody and management of assets, it noted that bungalow No. 13 located at the manager’s residential area ‘B’, renovated by the Ghana Cocoa Board and handed over to the Institute, had various defects such as faulty doors, leakage in the sewage system, unpainted areas, improper fixing of doors, lack of kitchen cabinet among others.
“Our interactions with the Principal Works Superintendent disclosed that the project was awarded at Ghana Cocoa Board Head office to Messer K.A Agai Company Ltd”.
“The supervising officer at the works department said that the contractor did not corporate with them when he was informed of the various defects. The situation could lead to payment for shoddy works done”, the report said.
The management was urged to recall the contractor to site to rectify the defects.
The report also said the retention amount should not be paid to the contractor until the defects are rectified.
In its response, the management of COCOBOD said the renovation of the bungalow No.13 is currently within the defect liability period and the contractor has been recalled to site to remedy the defect.
The management added that retention amount will not be released until after the defects have been remedied by the contractor.
Source: Mynewsghana
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