Food for thought - Audit: Police catering open to nepotism free-for-all

An audit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has revealed that the selection of caterers to prepare meals for persons in custody is done at local police stations, triggering concerns that the process lacks transparency and is open to “the risk of impropriety and nepotism”.

The audit, which was conducted by the Auditor General’s Department (AGD) and covered five fiscal years starting with 2013-14, revealed that the JCF spent $828 million on meals for detainees in police lock-ups over the five-year period.

However, the AGD has taken issue with the use of the direct contracting method by cops at local police stations to engage caterers based on the $300 cap set by the finance ministry. “This method of selecting suppliers lacked transparency,” the report said.

Further, the audit found that the contracts did not stipulate service and performance standards, and as a result, there were inconsistencies in the dietary meal plans and service standards across the various police stations.

Achievements

The 36-page report highlighted some positive achievements by the JCF, including the implementation of internal controls that reduced fuel costs, but said that the same principle was not extended to other larger procurement activities.

According to the AGD, there were instances where the procurement process for high-value good expenditure was in breach of government guidelines and did not conform to good practices.

It noted, too, that the JCF routinely ignored the competitive bidding process and opted, in most cases, for the direct or emergency contracting method.

“In a number of cases, the justifications cited for the use of the direct and emergency contracting methodologies were not in keeping with the allowable circumstances outlined in the procurement guidelines and, by extension, prevented the JCF from securing maximum from the monies spent,” the AGD said.

The agency also chided the JCF for what it said was a failure to establish clear linkages between annual operational targets and related procurement activities.

As an example, the AGD noted that the JCF targeted the recruitment of 828 police personnel for the 2015-16 fiscal year but said that it found that procurement plans did not reflect the additional uniforms that would be required.

“Due to poor planning, JCF made multiple purchases of uniform material and entered into contracts for the manufacture of uniforms, utilising the emergency and direct contracting methodologies for $623.4 million, or 61 per cent of transactions,” the report said.

“Consequently, we were unable to determine how the JCF assessed its performance relative to target or effectively allocated budgetary resources.

“This apparent disconnect between the annual operational plans and procurement plans limited the JCF’s ability to schedule the acquisition of goods and services on a timely basis to achieve value for money spent,” it said.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com