Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has revealed in parliament that it was recently discovered within the Ministry of Health that a person was giving maintenance contracts to his father’s company while there were other incidents where the Ministry’s Tender Committee was getting free bula shirts and other items when deciding on contracts to supply nurses uniforms.
Sayed-Khaiyum says when there were maintenance works below $50,000 for the Health Ministry, this was not taken up to the Government Tender Board but instead was dealt with internally within the Ministry.
He adds that whatever persons that was in charge of the maintenance of various facilities within the Ministry of Health had given all of this to his father’s company and this has been reported to FICAC.
He highlighted that there are anomalies that have happened within the Ministry of Health that the Auditor General has noted, people have been reported, and this is why there needs to be civil service reforms.
During the debate on the Ministry of Health and Medical Services 2014 Annual Report, Opposition MP Niko Nawaikula had highlighted the anomalies that were noted in the report that involved the staff of the Ministry that mismanaged funds, contracts and did not adhere to various procedures.
Sayed-Khaiyum stressed the Minister cannot be held responsible for that but the Permanent Secretary needs to be held responsible for that as they are the ultimate accounting officers for a particular Ministry.
He has also stated that this does not just happen in the Ministry of Health but also in other Ministries and this is a clear indication for the need for the civil service reforms.
The Acting Prime Minister says that there are many people not fit enough to be holding the positions they have and this is why there needs to be contracts in place to monitor people’s behaviour.
