By Kebba AF Touray
The Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly (FPAC) has reported that the issue surrounding the State House rehabilitation fee of nine hundred and fifty thousand Dalasi (D950,000), has been resolved.
FPAC made this disclosure in its latest update on the execution of the resolutions of the National Assembly, relating to the issue of imprest and the COVID-19 Relief Funds.
The Committee in its resolution states that the Contracts Committee and the Secretary-General at the Office of the President, have reimbursed the sum of D950,000.00, a contingency amount that they were told to remove from the contract with Gai Construction Company by the GPPA, for the rehabilitation of State House, failure of which, the Inspector General of Police will launch an investigation immediately and report back to them within 90 days.
“The matter has since been resolved and no further action is needed now,” FPAC reports.
However, FPAC indicated that the responses explained the D950,000.00 contingency fee that was never paid to GAI Enterprise, saying it was part of the adjustments requested by the GPPA, to be amended before signing the contract.
The FPAC, in the same vein, resolved that the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment must provide the Auditor General and FPAC on or before the 28 of September 2025, all agreements they have with the Government of Senegal relating to all the forfeited timber seized on Gambian soil, and all payments made from the proceeds.
“The Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not provide FPAC with any update on the status of this resolution,” FPAC said, adding that it was after the OVP engaged with FPAC that a letter dated 11 November 2024 was sent to the office of the Inspector General of Police, who also did not provide FPAC with any update on the status of this resolution.
“A letter from the Accountant General’s Department dated 16th September 2023, shares copies of a correspondence with the Ministry of the Environment pertaining to the proceeds of the impounded timber,” the National Assembly Committee said.
The committee added that after engagements with FPAC, the Inspector General of Police sent a letter dated 28 October 2024 to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment, requesting information on the issue and the focal persons involved. FPAC further involved the office of the Inspector General of Police to ensure the implementation of this Resolution.
