"The powers and responsibilities of the Audit Office are set out in the Constitution and the relevant legislation, which the Minister can easily see on the official website of the Audit Office (www.audit.gov.cy:" Legal Framework "option)," the Audit Office said in a statement. , which, on the subject of the public contract of the Solid Waste Treatment Plant in Kosi, invites the Minister of Interior to refer to the relevant Regulations governing the procedures for concluding and managing public contracts, to see the role and responsibilities of the Audit Office.
"The reference to the decisions of international organizations, including the United Nations General Assembly (Decision A / 66/209), was made by our Office to show that the Minister of European Cyprus disputes what is considered a given even in third world countries" According to the statement, which responds to the written statement of Socrates Hasikos that the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, which promotes the efficiency, accountability, effectiveness and transparency of public administration, by strengthening the supreme audit institutions, and which cites the Auditor General, can not overthrow the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Audit Office considers "it is surprising that the Minister, who took care in the written statement dated 22 July 2015 to include a report that the agreement he made with the private contractor was allegedly made in consultation with the Audit Office, remembered as soon as it became clear that this was not true , to say that the Audit Office has no role and responsibility in public procurement, and that its submission constitutes "abolition (!) of the Constitution".
He even states that the Minister himself had invited the Auditor General to participate as an observer in the technocratic negotiating committee he had appointed on January 7, 2014. It is also recalled in the announcement that the Council of Ministers had determined in its decision of November 6, 2013 that any result would be submitted for approval before the Central Committee on Changes and Requirements, in which the Auditor General also participates by law as an observer.
"Since the matter has finally been referred to the Central Committee for Changes and Claims, the substance of the case will be judged there. The Ministry of Interior, as the contracting authority, will be able to explain that it is advantageous for the Cypriot taxpayer (as the Minister claims) an agreement by which the Contractor waives a profit of € 13m. (which in any case can be judged to be receiving illegally) and secures for another 7 years (without open competition) additional profits of € 17m. (in relation to the price of the respective Limassol Unit), especially when it is left to the government to risk being called upon to pay a fine of several million euros. "The Ministry of Interior will also have the opportunity to explain where it bases its position that it has the right to reach its own conclusions on legal issues, when the Attorney General of the Republic gives a different opinion", the Audit Office notes.
Source: KYPE