Agriculture Ministry says it acted lawfully following AG’s report highlighting financial management concerns

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining has affirmed that at all times, its actions complied with the Public Procurement Act.

The statement is in response to a recent report from the Auditor General, which detailed that the ministry’s recurrent appropriation accounts for the period ending March 31, 2022 revealed several critical issues impacting financial management and compliance.

The AG’s report was tabled in Parliament last week.

According to the report, the ministry did not provide evidence that the procurement committee met and reviewed recommendations for the award of contracts/procurement of goods and services totalling $868.85 million, as mandated by Section 2.2.5.1 of the Government’s Procurement Guidelines.

In a release this morning, the ministry assured that its actions were compliant with the Procurement Act.

The ministry noted that the audit report relates to the 2021/2022 financial year, a period during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions on physical meetings were in effect in keeping with the Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures).

The Agriculture Ministry said Section 2.2.5.1 of the procurement guidelines allows for the use of a “round robin” approach by procurement committees in situations of urgency.

It stated that this provision was relied upon during the period in question and is the same section referenced by the Auditor General in the report.

The ministry also said procurement committee meetings were held virtually and were recorded.

However, while minutes were taken, they were inadvertently not downloaded and archived before being overwritten on the system.

It said notwithstanding this, it consistently provided all requested information to the Auditor General as part of its governance responsibility to remain transparent and compliant.

The ministry noted that the approximately $870 million referenced in the report was expended to bona fide contractors and there was no allegation of malfeasance.

The ministry sought to clarify that the referenced procurements were executed in full compliance with procurement laws and that all resources were documented properly, reviewed and approved and the requisite contracts were legally in place.

It said it remains fully committed to compliance with all acts of government, regulations, policies and guidelines governing procurement and the use of public funds.