Police expenses exceeded assigned budget: Audit Report

The Audit Report of Ministry of Home Affairs for 2010 has revealed that the expenses of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) exceeded the budget assigned for the institution, during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government.

The Report shows that while the Parliament had passed a budget of MVR627.7 million for MPS for 2010, the institution had spent MVR73.2 million in excess of this amount.

For instance, MVR195,000 was spent on sports trainers for the MPS in 2010, while MVR21,400 was spent for the same in 2009.

Also highlighted in the Report is the issue of the purchase of bicycles worth MVR1.4 million, which were purchased in 2009 and paid for in 2010.

Most of these bicycles are still packed and kept in storage rooms, thus it is not likely that they were purchased for use by MPS.

The Report noted that the use of the welfare fund of the MPS lacked any form of regulation. For instance, $1,200 was provided to a senior Police Officer who was not required to present any doctor’s letter as proof.

In addition, the system lacked fairness as money was provided from the welfare fund based on the Officers’ seniority, rather than the severity of medical conditions.

It was recommended to strengthen the rules of the welfare fund.

MVR43,803 had to be paid by MPS as fine for delays in electricity bill payments. The Auditor General noted that the accounts of MPS should not have been used to pay this fine, as it was the result of the negligence of MPS employees.

The report also highlighted that some projects undertaken by MPS had been awarded to groups against the Finance Act. For instance, the construction project of the MVR67.2-million 9-storey building at Iskandar koshi was awarded to a company in 2006 without first being submitted to the Tender Board or opened for bidding.

Moreover, the company’s failure to meet the deadline to complete the project resulted in the duration being increased excessively, resulting in MVR92.6 being spent on the project by the time it was completed.

It was also noted that contractors who was awarded the project to build Police Offices in four islands were given MVR1.6 million, after it had been decided that this amount should not be paid as they had failed to meet the deadline to complete the project.