The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Bids Board did not comply with provisions of Act 151-2004 on Electronic Government, by not publishing any of the bids and awards examined in the Bids Registry of the Office of Management and Budget. In addition, the file of one of the bids was not found, nor the minutes of the award act of another bid.
The two-finding audit notes deficiencies in the general conditions of the bid documents; for example, as of August 20, 2019, the collector had not returned nine bid bonds totaling $193,036, did not establish the date on which official receipts were prepared, and three bonds were submitted with incorrect amounts. A similar situation was commented on in Report DA-14-26 of 2014.
Contrary to the Purchasing Regulation, the Department did not obtain a minimum of three quotations for four purchase orders for goods and services from 2016 to 2018. In addition, in two purchase orders, totaling $145,227, a repair service for air conditioners was requested; however, seven air units were purchased. In one purchase order totaling $48,727, the replacement of security gate guides, door repair, and painting was requested; however, the programmable logic controller system of five modules was repaired. These situations may foster the acquisition of goods that are later not useful.
The Comptroller's auditors identified that from 2017 to 2019, administrative monitoring required by Administrative Order DCR-2015-04 had not been carried out for purchases that represent a high outlay of funds, in particular the services authorized as emergencies. The Department had carried out 129 emergency purchases totaling $3,766,505 in 2018 and 2019.
The Report comments that, as of October 31, 2019, the necessary measures had not been taken so that the purchase of a building on Muñoz Rivera Avenue in Río Piedras, in 2008 for $1,175,000, would result in benefit and usefulness for the Department of Correction. The building, as also commented on in Audit Report DA-16-27 of 2016, continues in a total state of abandonment, deterioration, and partially burned (see photos in Exhibit 2 of the Report).
This second report of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation covers the period from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019.
See the Audit Report DA-21-04.
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