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COA says Smartmatic delivery charge excessive

from NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.22

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A Commission on Audit (COA) report released last week showed that the company that supplied the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in the 2010 elections was paid excessively. Smartmatic International Corp. was awarded a contract worth Php 526.62 million for the delivery and transport of ballot boxes.

COA said that the Comelec paid a lump sum of Php 519.02 million for the transport and delivery of 77,000 ballot boxes all over the country for the 2010 general elections, or Php 6,740.52 for each ballot box. For the November 2010 special elections in Bulacan and selected areas in Mindanao, Smartmatic was paid Php 7.6 million to transport 700 ballot boxes, or an amount of Php 10,857.14 for each.

The audit body pointed out that there was an increase in the delivery charge from Php 6,740.52 in the first contract to Php 10,857.14 in the succeeding contract. It further added that “the document furnished discloses only a total of 76,977 pieces distributed,” as against 77, 630 pieces bought; the 653-piece difference remains unaccounted for. COA required the Comelec’s Shipping and Packing Committee to submit a report on the allocation of ballot boxes for the 2010 polls.

The COA also asked the poll body to review the contracts awarded to Smartmatic for the transport of the ballot boxes for being “excessive.” In 2010, Comelec conducted a bidding for the forwarding of accountable and non-accountable forms used in the 2010 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. The approved budget for the forwarding service was Php 230,731,025.52. (Read the Comelec Invitation to Bid here: http://bit.ly/qKy2U4)

(Sources: Manila Times, Comelec)
 
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