By Nelson Manneh The Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) on 28th April, 2015 reappeared before the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises (PAC/PEC) of the National Assembly to answer to queries on their annual report and financial statement which they presented on the day before.Hon. Lamin K. Jammeh raised concern on the fuel issue. “During our review of controls around fuel resources, we noted that there were no adequate segregation of duties at the fuel dump for the dispensing of fuel to departments and staff. We noted that keys to the fuel tank, the generator room and the pump were all in the custody of one individual staff. We also noted that from our interviews with management that fuel is one of the main concern areas it has over the potential risk of fraud affecting the Authority,” he said. Hon. Jammeh noted that the implication of concentrating all the control processes in the hands of one individual staff increases the risk of fraud that could go undetected by management. He said errors could also be difficult to prevent and detect on a timely basis if several individuals are not involved in the process. According to the management in their response, currently there are other important stakeholders such as Equipment Management Unit [EMU] and security all taking their independent records as a way of ensuring effective control. They indicated that keys are handled by the fuel dump store keeper who is the senior person responsible. This control, according to management, has been effective and thus needs to be maintained. They added that segregating the handling of keys may result to ineffective controls at some point in the operation. Hon Jammeh said GPA should be mindful of how to use and manage the fuel. Mr Ousman M. Jobarteh, the Deputy Managing Director, responding to the queries, said the fuel issue has been noted on the auditor’s observation but the problem is that they cannot split the keys since that can bring some misunderstanding between individuals when it comes to rendering account. Hon. Abdoulie Saine drew attention to the funds used on Entertainment and Donation amounting to 1,686,000 (One Million Six Hundred and Eighty Six thousand Dalasi) and 36,294,000 (Thirty Six Million Two Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand Dalasi) respectively. He said the amounts are colossal and need to be reduced. In his response, Mr. Tamsir Sallah, the GPA Finance Director, said part of the donated funds was used in the roofing of the July 22nd Pavilion in Banjul. Hon. Fatou Mbye thanked the representatives of the GPA and asked them to continue with the “good momentum” in order to be at the top level in the next face to face. ]]>
