Used roofing material at Piarco outdoor food court, tables cost $5,000 audit reveals

The $22M outdoor food court at Piarco

An audit has revealed that used roofing materials were installed at the outdoor vending facility at the Piarco International Airport at a cost of $4.1 million. The audit noted that the original cost for the roof was $2.3 million but that almost doubled.

The facility, which was started during the Manning PNM adminjistration, was originally budgeted at $15 million and ended up at $22 million, with delivery 18 months later that originally planned.

Transport Minister Devant Maharaj wrote to Commissioner of Police (CoP) Dwayne Gibbs and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Wednesday requesting an investigation into the project.

He send a a copy of the audit to both of them, stating: "The contents of the said report reflect inter alia that the contracts for the local food court was not administered efficiently and effectively."

According to details of the reported published in the Express newspaper, the design of the roof was changed from Teflon coated fabric to inverted umbrella canopy.

It said the original plans had a canvas-covered walkway over the doubles vendor booths and surrounding the other vendor booths. However the contractors changed the plan and bought used inverted umbrellas that were nearly 10 years old.

The report said the original design estimated the cost of the roof to be $2.3 million but that climbed to $4.1 million with the installation of the used roof.

The report added that prices for equipment and furniture were overstated, noting that the outdoor furniture could have been bought at a lower cost, ranging from $25,052,000 to $83,006.02. However, the actual cost reported in the audit cost was much higher at $180,716.40.

It gave examples of the inflated costs. A chair was bought for $1,163.81 when it could have cost $224.00. The same applied to a table for $4,380.58 that was available for $367.20.

"There is a risk that the overall contract cost was overpriced as the best price was not obtained for furniture. The basis of the award and the date of receipt of the furniture could be viewed as biased by other tenderers," the report stated.

The report also noted that there is no record of the contract between the Airports Authority of Trinidad & Tobago (AATT) and the contractor, which has created "detrimental effects" on the Authority's ability to pursue legal action in the event of breaches or non-performance.