THE St. Catherine Parish Council was one of three parish councils audited and singled out, in a recent Ministry of Local Government and Environment report, to have carried out several operational breaches. The others were St. Mary and Westmoreland.

Like the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) last year, these parish councils were found to have breached procurement guidelines and financial irregularities which were detected by the auditors. The inspections were done for the Financial Year April 2005 - March 2006.

Here are some of the ills as revealed by the report.

A total of $3,501,209 was paid to suppliers who supplied services more than twice.

Goods totalling $1,736,508 were taken to the Procurement Committee and there was only one quotation (supplier invoice) seen for the purchase of these goods.

Government's procurement guideline states that goods valued less than $250,000 must be procured by limited tender, whereby three or more quotations are sought/ tenders invited from three or more suppliers.

Payment totalling $9,721,886 for services were not done in accordance with procurement guidelines.

Contracts for services exceeding $250,000 totalled $3,093,330. These payments were not taken to any of the committees for selection and approval.