The Ministry of Health asked to recover the 500,000 MVR overpaid

The Audit Bureau instructed the Ministry of Health to recover 517,915 MVRs that were issued to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The Department of Health was instructed to recover the money in the 2020 Compliance Audit Report prepared by the Audit Office amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report indicates that a contract was signed with a private company on March 9, 2020 to purchase and supply PPE within a week. The total value of the items was 8.9 million MVR. Some of the items were delivered on April 9, a month later than the agreed period. The Ministry of Health paid MVR 4.5 million for the items in September 2020.

Articles submitted after the deadline:

100 450 Shoe covers
55,800 dresses
100,450 headwear

The audit report indicates that some of the items were submitted after the deadline and part of the total amount should be deducted as damages according to the Public Finance Act. Since the ministry did not deduct the amount, the supplier received an additional 517,915 MVR, the report said.

The report further notes that 44,450 dresses of other brands that were supplied were not accepted by the ministry, but the full cost of the goods was paid to the supplier by the ministry.

The audit report ordered the recovery of the additional amount paid to the supplier. If the money is not received from the supplier, action will be taken against the employees who were negligent in the matter, and the amount must be recovered from the employees, the report said.