By Alusine Fullah

As the Auditor General of the Audit Service Report and Team continue to strengthen their wings in exposing the dubious activities embedded within the public service sectors, it has been revealed that several corruptive activities have been taken place in the Falaba District Council.

In nexus to the foregoing, the Audit Report started by stating that the council did not deliver medical equipment and essential drugs to beneficiaries. The report states: “Payments totalling SLE28, 350 and SLE37,762 were made for the supply of medical equipment and essential drugs respectively. The items were allegedly delivered to the DHMT Stores in Kabala. However, the audit team could not confirm the delivery of these items in the stores due to the absence of the DMO; and no other store records were submitted to substantiate the receipt and distribution of the items. Moreover, we could not understand the rationale for storing the drugs in Kabala, as it would be logistically challenging to distribute the drugs and other essential supplies outside its operational area.”

The Audit report went further to state that there are several Irregularities were identified during physical verification of contracts. The report noted that several works contracts undertaken by the Council were either poorly done or not done at all, which were in contravention of Section 30 (1) of the PPA of 2016 and Section 145 (4) of the PPR of 2020.

The report states: “Spot Improvement and Construction of Culverts along Karifaya to Walia (5.6km) Lot 2 Feeder Road in Mongor Chiefdom The total contract cost of SLE635,498 had been paid to the contractor and the contract had since elapsed. A review of the BoQ revealed that five culverts should have been constructed. However, only four culverts were constructed. The cost of the outstanding culvert was SLE26,970 which should be recovered from the contractor. Meanwhile, of the four culverts constructed, we observed the following:  The backfilling of the culverts was done using loose soil instead of the required laterite soil.  The contractor did not install railings on both sides of one of the culverts.  One of the culverts was not properly compacted, and as a result, it was uneven due to the different levels of thickness of the concrete mixture. Moreover, there were too many holes (honey combs) in between the concrete mixtures.”

Even though SLE353,360 was included for spot improvement, the report revealed that significant work was not done on the feeder road, as drainage was not dug, and several potholes were observed. Meanwhile, the Audit Report also reveals that a contract cost was SLE537,949 and a total of SLE311,446.86 was paid to the contractors leaving an outstanding amount of SLE226,502.20. The contractor was supposed to complete a threeclassroom building, and construct two VIP latrines and a hand-dug well in Bontollah Dembellia.

In line with the above, this contract has since ended and the auditors made the following defects:

The two latrines constructed had collapsed due to poor quality work done;

The hand pump of the water well was not installed correctly, as the hand pump was defective at the time of the verification;

Pavement works for SLE24,300 were not correctly done. In this regard, we observed insufficient concrete mixture leading to cracks and holes in the classrooms and the veranda;

The BoQ stipulated that the contractor was to fabricate furniture for the school and install electrical cables for SLE47,643 and SLE18,000, respectively. However, physical verification revealed that the said activities were not carried out, which makes the learning environment very challenging. Meanwhile, the school was using makeshift benches for the pupils to use.

According to the report, a total contract cost was SLE725,485 and only SLE368,186.45 was paid to the contractors leaving an outstanding amount of SLE357,299.45. Site visitation revealed that the contractor had not completed any of the three works at the time of the verification. The contractor had only dug the holes for the latrines and the hand-dug well, and doing block work up to the wall height for the classroom building. The furniture was not fabricated. The contract duration had since elapsed.

The Audit Report has shown an absolute contrary lens to the mandate and responsibilities of the local council of Falaba. Based on the financial mismanagement of the Falaba District Council, one may be moved to ask the constitutional/ legal mandate of the council. In line with that, part five section 19 sub section c of the Local Council Act 22 highlights the functions/ responsibilities of Local Councils and Councillors (c) be responsible, generally for promoting the development of the locality and the welfare of the people in the locality with the resources at its disposal and with any resources and capacity it can mobilise from (i) the central government and its agencies; (ii) national and international organisations; and (ii) the private sector.