Corona relief funds: Auditors find over Rs3 bn irregularities by KP govt

ISLAMABAD: The country's top auditors have pointed out massive irregularities, fictitious purchases, wasteful expenditures and losses to public funds of more than Rs3 billion by the health department of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Auditors have submitted their report to the president of Pakistan last week after the federal government pledged last year that the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) would conduct a special audit of procurements of Covid-19 related purchases and expenditures.

The KP chapter of the report pointed out misappropriation, violation of rules and regulations, weak control on expenditures, misuse of funds, fictitious and fabricated purchases, loss to government exchequer, overpayment of public funds and negligence.

The auditors scrutinized the allocation of Rs8.8 billion made for fiscal year 2019-20, including Rs7.8 billion released by the finance department KP government. Furthermore, auditors also audited an amount of Rs1.7 billion allocated by the finance department to the health department, home & TA department and the Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP), KP, for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

A special audit team of AGP found "fictitious purchases of items worth Rs881 million by the KP government," according to an official report.

The auditors, during an audit of funds released to the district government hospitals, noticed that prior to uploading demand on its websites, procurement of Rs308 million from different suppliers was already made. Similarly, Rs573.914 million was paid to suppliers for procurement of essential items out of Covid-19 fund on quotation basis and several shortcomings and deviations from the approved TORs were noticed.

The auditors revealed that a department committee meeting held on Dec 15, 2020 marked for verification of these quotations, comparative statements and stock entries, however, till the finalization of this report, no record was produced for verification.

"Audit recommends inquiring the matter for fixing responsibility," reads the report, exclusively made available with Geo News. The auditors pointed to doubtful purchases of equipment worth Rs14.358 million, which included stockpiling and logistics, noticing irregularities in an amount of Rs1 billion, which was allocated for provision of death compensation under the relief package for frontline workers dealing with Covid-19.

The auditors also highlighted irregularities in funds of Rs140 million, which were released to the Home and Tribal Affairs Department for screening of prisoners and to curb the spread of the virus in jails.

Less than 30pc of the allocated funds were spent, auditors said quarantine centers in most of the districts were established in inaccessible areas which were neither feasible for the administration nor patients, despite the fact that government buildings were available in the nearby vicinities.

The audit team also pointed out that the management of PDMA incurred an expenditure of Rs62 million on purchase of PPEs without any market survey. The audit team pointed to losses of Rs117 million public funds in purchase of some specification cardiac monitors recommending a high-level inquiry for fixing responsibility and making good the loss sustained by the government.

The AGP team highlighted financial irregularities in purchases of Rs221 million in district hospitals, which purchased the PPEs on higher rates, which caused a loss of the said amount (Rs221 million). An audit team on August 5, 2020 found that the PPEs were available in market @Rs650 hence, the administration purchased the item on higher rates and overpaid Rs102.4 million, reads the report.

The AGP report pointed out losses of Rs180 million to the government after administration made purchases at higher rates which occurred due to non adherence to the emergency procurement guidelines and failure to conduct market survey by the management. The auditors point out irregular payments of over Rs250 million in unnecessary placement of purchase order for KN-95 masks, PPE Kits and irregular procurement of anti corona kits.

The AGP also questioned non-supply of ICU ventilators despite payment of Rs43.425 million and non supply of medical equipment worth Rs150 million. Auditors also recommended a doubtful award of contract and payment of Rs11 million to M/s Dawazai & Company, pointing out a supply of 400,000 substandard masks by M/s Protech Solutions to the PDMA accordingly.

The auditors pointed out irregular payment of advertisement charges of Rs42.24 million and less deduction of sales tax of Rs91 million from suppliers. Auditors also said that the KP government did provide record Rs446.867 million expenditures, which according to them raise questions on fair usage of public funds.

The audit team also revealed that profit of Rs49 million was deposited in the government treasury while an unnecessary placement of purchase order of Rs147 million was made for infusion pumps, which included a wasteful expenditure of Rs17 million on account of ventilators. The provincial government also made unnecessary creation of financial liability of Rs25.528 million and doubtful utilization of emergency funds worth Rs44 million made by various health facilities, according to the audit report.

The report also pointed to an inauthentic payment on account of consumable items worth Rs140.67 million. The audit team also exposed doubtful expenditures of Rs89 million due to non-taking of stores on stock registers. The audit team also highlighted doubtful utilization of Actemra injections worth Rs20.319 million, unjustified expenditures of Rs44 million on establishment and operations of quarantine centers and inauthentic expenditures of Rs50 million on the purchase of food packages and cooked food for quarantine centers.