Contract splitting seen in $82.1m GECOM purchase

The Office of the Auditor General (AG) is investigating an apparent attempt by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to breach the Procurement Act by sub-dividing a contract worth $82.169 million so as to avoid cabinet scrutiny.

The 2015 Auditor General’s report, which was tabled in the National Assembly yesterday, notes that during the 2015 fiscal year GECOM expended the sum of $197.899 million for Office Material and Supplies. Included in this sum were amounts totalling $82.169 million which represented full payment on nine contracts awarded to the same supplier for the purchase of toners and cartridges.

According to Section 54 of the Procurement Act 2003 Cabinet shall have the right to review all procurements the value of which exceeds $15M. The same act in Section 14 states that a procuring entity shall not divide or cause to divide its procurement into separate contracts for the purpose of avoiding the application of any provision of the act or any regulations made thereunder.