The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Highways and Transportation Authority of Puerto Rico (Authority). A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliance, individually or as a whole, is significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Authority illegally disbursed $17,665 for work that was not included in the original line items of the contract and that was performed before being approved by the executive director. The original contract signed in 2016 to make safety improvements to highway PR-129 between Arecibo and Lares was for $2,992,000, an amount that increased to $3,784,018 after the approval of seven amendments.
The four-finding audit notes that the Authority did not maintain adequate control of the subcontracted services performed before being approved. The director of the construction area did not ensure that the contractor complied with what was established in the Specifications Manual.
In addition, the Authority did not obtain the evidence that the contractor complied with the Disadvantage Business Enterprise Program. This program of the United States Department of Transportation has the purpose of guaranteeing that there is no discrimination in the awarding and administration of construction contracts. From the examination performed, it was found that the Authority did not supervise the contractor's compliance, since the latter adjusted without authorization the amount of the subcontracted work, and submitted up to three years later the evidence of disbursement to the subcontractors.
The auditors identified internal regulation governing construction projects that dates, the oldest, from 1975. This situation indicates that the officials did not comply with their administrative duties of reviewing this regulation, which includes two manuals, five procedures, and seven regulations.
Contrary to current regulation, the Authority paid for the work of 12 projects related to the mounting of road signs and signals between 2016 and 2017, without the signature of the inspector. In addition, the project administrator did not prepare the minutes of the meetings held, and presented the daily activities report three and a half years later.
In this way, the project administrator did not fulfill his responsibilities. This situation has the effect that the absence of these documents limits the scope of the work of the Office of the Comptroller and of other oversight entities.
The report of the Authority covers the period from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2020.
See Audit Report CP-23-04.
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