More than five years after the Accountant General’s Department (AcGD) spent $5 million to purchase a machine and software to print pensioners’ pay slips and life certificates, the agency has not derived any value for the money spent.
This is because the machine and software have not been used since 2015, but instead, the AcGD continues to spend significant amounts on outsourcing arrangements.
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis said that the AcGD acquired an auto seal pressure machine at a cost of $1.2 million for printing pensioners’ pay slips and life certificates in April 2015 to replace the service sourced externally.
The department also procured the accompanying software for $3.8 million.
However, five years later in 2020, the machine has still not been commissioned into use while the AcGD continued the outsourcing arrangements and paid approximately $37.42 million for the financial years 2016-17 to October 2020.
The auditor general reported that up to March 31, 2020, a formal agreement to protect the Government’s interest was not implemented, and there was no indication that the printery was selected based on competitive price quotations, further demonstrating that the AcGD failed to satisfy itself that it had chosen the most cost-effective option for printing services.
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