Auditor General’s Office (AGO) has ordered the Ministry of Health to recover USD33,000 spent on personal protective equipment (PPE).
The health ministry signed an agreement with a private contractor in 2020 to obtain PPEs such as gloves and gowns. The COVID-19 compliance audit report of the health ministry for the period between July and September 2020 stated that the contractor had failed to provide all the PPEs worth USD580,000 as agreed upon but had provided 55,800 gowns, 110,450 shoe covers, and 100,450 head covers. The report stated that the ministry had paid USD293,000 to the contractor for the PPEs in 2020.
The report also noted that the contractor had agreed to immediately report any failure to procure all the PPEs to the ministry, but that it had reported the matter after a month, which would result in the payment being reduced as liquidated damages. As such, the AGO stated that the ministry is required to recover USD33,000 in liquidated damages for the PPEs that were not procured.