In addition to government vehicles and fuel, Nigel Stephenson, Minister of Transport on Thursday identified several other areas where state resources have been neglected or potentially abused, leading to significant financial loss for the country.
The minister pointed out that many public buildings have been allowed to fall into a “terrible state of disrepair”.
He questions if this was a “deliberate ploy” to force the government to rent buildings from private individuals at high costs, suggesting that some may have stood to benefit from this arrangement.
The new government is investigating the $7 million annual cost for watchmen and checkers and stated that many “watchmen are not watching” and “checkers are not checking,” noting that some employees leave their posts as soon as they are checked but continue to be paid.
There is now scrutiny over government contracts habitually awarded to a specific company, with the minister questioning if this was a method to divert state resources for private or political gain,.
Additionally, the ministry is looking into collusion with businesses regarding invoices that are not accompanied by proper purchase orders or that use duplicate purchase order numbers.
The minister highlighted an abuse of the planning system where private developers subdivide land and sell it without installing necessary roads. This forces the state to later use taxpayer money to provide infrastructure that should have been the developer’s responsibility.
Stephenson views delays in infrastructure projects as an abuse of taxpayer money because “delay is an expense”. He notes that many inherited projects are “woefully behind schedule,” which increases the ultimate cost to the public.