Two former officials at Egypt’s General Authority for Land and Dry Ports have been accused of wasting $9 million by purchasing unnecessary insurance devices for the ports.
The Administrative Prosecution Authority referred the former officials to disciplinary trial.
The former head of the Central Administration of Land Ports of the Authority, and the former chairman of the Board of Directors are alleged to have purchased 188 insurance devices, even though the ports only needed 120. The additional 68 devices were valued at $9 million.
According to a statement, the head of the Administrative Prosecution Authority, Adly Gad, issued his decision after a report from the port authority to determine the responsibility of the Authority’s specialists for purchasing insurance devices.
Each of the two former officials prepared reports claiming the authority needed 188 insurance devices and concluding a contract with a company to purchase them, estimated at over $27 million.
They were also accused of violating the established contracting procedures by not obtaining the approval of the prime minister before concluding the agreement. Additionally, the contracts were written in English, not Arabic, which is also a violation of the applicable regulations.
In an attempt to redress the losses, the Authority agreed with the supplier to cancel the contract 23 devices which were not dispatched and delivered. It returned two devices to the supplier and sold 25 to Egyptian Airports and Cairo Airport.
The Authority was left with 18 devices, worth $2 million.
