Fire Chief, Kalamadeen Edoo is up in arms over a recent discovery of fraud within his ranks. Edoo is insistent that the matter must be dealt with adequately as it has the propensity to “bring the entire fire service into disrepute.”
This much is reflected in a letter written by Edoo and sent to Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn a few days ago.
In the letter seen by Guyana Standard, Edoo told Benn that, upon assumption of the position in which he acts, he noticed a disparity in fees in comparison to the number of safety certificates and other documents being issued from the department. As a result, he launched an internal investigation.
He told Benn that the investigation “sadly” proved that “the system has been defrauded of quite a huge sum of money.”
Edoo pointed out that hundreds of receipts were not accounted for when crossed checked.
He told Minister Benn that the person responsible, (name stated), should be investigated and made to give an account for the discrepancies since the official stats being produced by the fire prevention department reflect the true number of documents being processed by the fire service but the government revenue is not adding up in equal proportion.
Based on the chart provided to Benn within the letter, over the period February to July, only 956 receipts were accounted for while some 2594 documents were issued. Therefore, monies for 1638 documents issued cannot be accounted for. Documents issued include New Petroleum Licence, Renewed Petroleum Licence, and safety certificates.
Edoo told Benn that the matter can be deemed “criminal in nature.”
More in a subsequent report
