DCS – Weakness in Procurement Process regarding contracts valued at $185 million dollars

Auditor General's Findings

The Auditor General was unable to satisfy herself that DCS received value from $185 million paid to four contractors between 2016/17 and 2017/18 as the contracts, requisite procurement documents and minutes of procurement meetings were not presented for audit review. Owing to this, they did not obtain any assurance that DCS’ contract award process, including the evaluation, recommendation and approval, was transparent and in keeping with the provisions set out in the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Procurement Guidelines.

Additionally, in breach of the GoJ Procurement Guidelines, DCS utilized the direct contracting methodology to award contracts, totalling $55.6 million, to four contractors for the supply of uniforms. The contract values, which ranged between $6.7 million and $18.9 million, surpassed the approved direct contracting threshold of $1.5 million, and required the use of the limited tendering and local competitive bidding methodologies. Further, two of the contractors whose contract values totalled $25.6 million, did not possess valid Tax Compliance Certificates at the time of contract award.

According to DCS records, the Commissioner approved the direct contracting to meet a deadline and avoid the payment in lieu of uniform. However, this highlights a lack of proper planning and weaknesses in DCS governance practices as an approaching timeline for an annual expenditure is not an appropriate justification for direct contracting. By circumventing the competitive process, DCS would have denied itself the opportunity of procuring the items at a more economical rate to achieve greater value for money.