https://www.cnc3.co.tt/vsep-ot-fraud-al ... s-comment/ VSEP, OT fraud allegations at WASA… Ex-boss refuses comment
By CNC3 Editor -March 15, 2021
3039208
Flashback 2018: WASA workers repair a leak in Beetham Gardens.
Former senior manager at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Ken Mahabir yesterday refused to comment on allegations that there were billions of dollars in unauthorised salary and overtime payments during his tenure at the utility—a matter which has now been referred to the Police Service for investigation.
Calls to his cell phone yesterday were answered by a man who initially claimed not to know Mahabir before later claiming he was “just doing some work for him” and promising to relay the messages to Mahabir.
However, Guardian Media also sent several questions to Mahabir via WhatsApp and while they were received and read, no responses were forthcoming up to last night.
Mahabir, who served as WASA’s director of Human Resources, was accused of seven allegations of misconduct in a 2016 audit report prepared by WASA’s Legal Department.
He was employed at the authority from June 28, 2011 and then brought back on contract from January 1, 2015 for a period of three years, with his tenure ending on December 31, 2017. He was suspended on June 16, 2016 and later terminated via a letter dated March 8, 2017, by WASA’s then acting chief executive officer Alan Poon King.
Although Mahabir denied the allegations via a letter dated June 19, 2016, his termination followed advice received from senior counsel Elton Prescott that “adequate documented evidence” had been provided by the authority in respect of the allegations, except one which claimed Mahabir had used his office to grant approvals for the receipt of travelling allowances and leased motor vehicles by members of staff.
In Prescott’s letter to head of legal service Paula Fortune on March 6, 2017, Prescott confirmed that Mahabir, in a letter on November 17, 2016, had “repeated his request for greater specifics and other relevant details which he said would permit him to provide a complete response to the matters alleged.”
Prescott disclosed that Mahabir had “not condescended to accept (or to comment on) the authority’s indication that he may have access to its internal documents, under supervision.”
Among the allegations in the 74-page audit report was that Mahabir had failed to follow and/or establish procedures and practices for the recruitment and re-hiring of personnel, at a significant financial cost and burden on the authority, and/or the engagement of daily paid workers in 2014 and 2015 without requisite credentials.
Another allegation was that during the same period, he acted in breach of WASA’s mandate to reduce staff pursuant to a Voluntary Separation Package (VSEP) loan agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and that he also allegedly misled the management, board and ministry with respect to manpower levels within the authority.
Other allegations claimed there was a lack of transparency in the selection criteria of staff in some areas, as 342 persons who did not possess the necessary qualifications, knowledge, skills or experience were appointed in an interim arrangement within the Operations Division, thereby leading to an increase in overall salary costs from $130,168,706.82 to $157,824,269.28.
Mahabir was also accused of authorising the payment of overtime forgone by the union officials of the National Union of Government Federated Workers’ (NUGFW) WASA section from January 2011 to December 2014, in the amount of $726,718, without seeking approval from the board and Human Resource Committee. Mahabir was also accused of retroactively approving the payments of additional commuted overtime hours and special project allowances to six members of the Public Service Association (PSA) WASA section between January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015.
The audit alleged, “These allowances are in excess of those provided to employees of similar ranges and job description and has resulted in an increased monthly financial commitment to the authority of $31,135.61.” From January 2013 to December 2015, the excess allowance totalled $947,307.03. Furthermore, this allowance continued beyond December 2015 to July 2016, totalling $195,302.12.
Responding to the exclusive report yesterday, NUGFW president James Lambert said, “Workers do not give themselves overtime. Overtime is given by the management and the workers are expected to work during that period. The workers are not the ones to answer as to what overtime is given to them, they are required to provide a service and are paid for it, so we are not concerned about that.”
Also contacted, former public utilities minister Ganga Singh declined to comment on the matter, saying he was out of “the public life.”
Explaining that he had taken a step back from “the public domain” prior to the 2020 general election, Singh said while he had his own views, he was not willing to comment.
Calls to PSA president Watson Duke meanwhile went unanswered.
Former WASA chairman Romney Thomas, under whose tenure Mahabir would have been terminated, opted not to comment on the matter when contacted via cellphone yesterday.
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/audit-o ... b635d35f6d Audit: One WASA worker earned $.5m in overtime
by
Shaliza Hassanali & Anna-Lisa Paul
8 hours ago
Wed Mar 17 2021
The document showing overtime payments to six workers which was highlighted during an audit in 2016 by the utility’s Legal Department.
Tamika Amora
SHALIZA HASSANALI and
ANNA-LISA PAUL
“A scandal of the highest order.”
This is how Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales yesterday described the payment of over $1.1 million in overtime to six officials of the Public Services Association (PSA) employed at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) during a three-year period. One of the PSA officials alone received over half a million dollars of this figure.
Outraged over the wanton spending, financial irregularities, mismanagement and corrupt activities at the cash-strapped authority in the past, the angry minister has promised to make the perpetrators accountable.
During an interview with Guardian Media, Gonzales said, “It’s a scandalous state of affairs and a breach of the public’s trust by those entrusted with the solemn duty to manage the authority.”
This as investigations continue into the operations of WASA and allegations of misconduct by former human resources director Ken Mahabir raised in a 2016 audit by WASA’s Legal Department.
According to the audit, which was obtained by Guardian Media, $
1,142,609.15 was paid to six union officials in excessive commuted overtime (COT) during January 2013 to July 2016.The payouts would have taken place during Mahabir’s tenure. He served as director from
June 28, 2011 before returning to the authority on contract from January 1, 2015. Following the 74-page audit, he was suspended on June 16, 2016 and later fired on March 8, 2017.Audit documents revealed the highest paid of the six PSA officials received $504,589.52 in total excessive COT during a 43-month period.
The report showed the
six PSA union officials were paid a total of $947,307.03 in excessive COT, with a further $195,302.12 being paid in excessive COT after the approved period.
A breakdown revealed the highest paid PSA executive received $17,795.08 per month in excessive COT, when he should have received $5,931.69 per month. He was paid $11,863.39 per month in excessive COT during the period January 2013 to June 2016.
The second executive member received a total of $97,938.42 in excessive COT between July 2014 to July 2016 during a 25-month period. That member also allegedly received payments for 12 months in excess of the agreed period. The breakdown showed the worker received $3,860.91 per month, when she should have not received any COT.
Another worker collected a total of $95,799.37 in excessive COT payments during November 2014 to June 2016 during a 20-month period and for eight months in excess of the agreed period. He received $9,469.47 per month, when he should have received $4,734.74 per month. He was paid an excess of $4,734.73 in COT between November 2014 to June 2016.
Yet another worker received $86,121.16 in excessive COT payments during November 2014 to June 2016 during a 20-month period and for eight months in excess of the agreed period. A breakdown revealed he received $8,512.79 per month in COT payments, when he should have got $4,256.39 per month. He was paid an excess of $4,256.40 per month during the period November 2014 to June 2016.
Two remaining PSA executive members received $81,430.55 and $81,428.01 respectively in excessive COT payments from July 2014 and continuing up to July 2016 during a 25-month period. The two each received monies for 12 months in excess of the agreed period.
A breakdown showed one of them received $3,210.14 per month, when she should not have received any COT payments. She was paid an excess of $3,210.14 for the period July 2014 to July 2016. The audit revealed the other worker received $3,210.04 per month, when she too should not have received any COT payments. She was also paid an excess of $3,210.04 for the period July 2014 to July 2016.
PSA is one of three unions that represents daily-paid and monthly rated workers at WASA. The other two are the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) and the Estate Police Association (EPA).
Although it was claimed NUGFW representatives had received COT payments, no break-downs were included among the audit documents.
The report found that Mahabir authorised the payment of overtime forgone by the union officials of the NUGFW’s WASA section from January 2011 to December 2014 without seeking approval from the board and Human Resource Committee. These payments amounted to $726,718.
The audit stated that there was no documentation to support suggestions that Mahabir had performed due diligence checks to ensure the accuracy and legitimacy of the requested amount to be remitted to these officials.
It further found that Mahabir authorised payments of overtime foregone and institutional strengthening allowances to executive members of the NUGFW WASA Section, totalling $1,426,718, without seeking approvals from the CEO, board and Human Resource Committee.
On Monday, NUGFW president James Lambert said workers did not give themselves overtime and as such, they had nothing to answer for and it was the management which should account.
Yesterday, Gonzales challenged the PSA to say if it is, “willing to repay the monies paid to some of its officers to allow the purchase of PPE uniforms for workers to do their jobs effectively or to allow WASA to buy materials to repair broken pipelines so that our citizens can get water in their taps?”
