WALVIS BAY – Erongo governor Neville Andre yesterday claimed a school principal in the region was allegedly offered fish by a contractor in order to sign off incomplete work linked to the Covid-19 education grant tenders.
The matter, which is currently under investigation, would have seen the contractor claiming a certain percentage of payment, despite failure to complete the work.
This and other allegations linked to the construction of ablution facilities and hostels for various schools in the Erongo region, is now being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
A total of N$36 million was allocated by government for the construction of ablution facilities. However, some contractors never made it to the sites while some projects are still incomplete despite the December 2020 deadline.
The money was part of the Erongo Covid-19 grant that was channelled through the National Planning Commission to renovate and add additional facilities in schools to help fight the pandemic.
Erongo regional governor Neville Andre yesterday said he, along with various officials from the education ministry and the Erongo Regional Council, visited the projects last month, much to their disappointment. “The projects were supposed to be completed and ready for the start of this year’s school calendar. However, we were very disappointed by the progress of some of the projects. Hence, we scrutinised them and gathered that there is serious lack of monitoring of these development projects. We also found that the payments signed off, do not collaborate with the progress of the work done at different sites,” Andre said yesterday. He hinted at the prospects of bribery by some of the contractors, who wanted to make a principal sign for work that was not done in order to receive a certain percentage of payment, in return. “One of the contactors even offered a principal fish among other things if he signed off work that was not even done,” the governor said. He added that it was against this background that his office asked the ACC to investigate the irregularities to ensure that incidences of corruption do not take place in the region and to uphold the principles of governance. “I am calling upon those officials involved in corrupt practices to stop as soon as possible and also appealing to those private companies, that approach officials to indulge in corrupt activities to desist from such or risk facing the law,” he cautioned.
edeklerk@nepc.com.na