THE Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), formed as a temporary institution to oversee the national recovery following Hurricane Ivan in 2004, has earned the wrath of Auditor General Adrian Strachan, in his latest report to Parliament.

Strachan, in his 2005/2006 report tabled last week, said that he found no indication that six contracts, each valued over $4 million and totalling $58.7 million, were approved by the National Contracts Committee (NCC), as required under the procurement guidelines.

He said that payments totalling $7.5 million were made on valuation certificates, which, at the time of audit, were not signed by the quantity surveyor, and making it impossible to determine whether the work paid for was properly valued.

He reported, too, that cashed cheques, valued at just over $3 million and drawn on the recurrent account, were reportedly not returned by the bank and there was no evidence of the bank being informed of the omission.

“In the absence of these cashed cheques or microfilm copies, the reconciliation of the account could not be satisfactorily concluded, neither could the payees be verified,” Strachan reported. He said that the management had been advised to rigorously pursue the matter with the bank.

Strachan also reported that the requisite inventory control records were not maintained and items of furniture and equipment were not suitably marked. He said that the absence of proper fixed asset records and control procedures could undermine the management’s ability to properly safeguard the assets.

The ONR was created in September 2004 to spearhead national recovery from the $35 billion in ravages resulting from Hurricane Ivan. It was originally scheduled to operate for six months, but the process eventually lasted 18 months and operated with a budget of approximately $1 billion.