Dear Editor,
My uncle informs me that his company as well as several others doing infrastructure work for NDIA of the Ministry of Agriculture has not been paid for months. These companies have multi-million dollars bills to be paid in addition to meeting payroll for many staff. During this Covid time, timely payments by government and employers are critical for the economy.
Because of reported alleged scams and queries by the media about contract tendering at the Ministry, government is forced to do a verification of all work and requests of payment. The Ministry claims it did verification. But the Ministry of Finance states it will do its own verification. Does this not suggest a lack of confidence in NDIA? If a Minister or his designate signs off on an exercise after multiple verification and re-verification, does it not speak volumes about trust in the entity? Meanwhile, contractors are waiting for their payment. When will they be paid? Or is it a case of paying to play? I mean drawback!
Instead of having all these verifications and re-verifications of payments that demoralizes staff, won’t it be better to put in place personnel with whom the staff and the Ministry of Finance have confidence?
Yours truly,
Jillian Adams
