By Moses M. Tokpah
Liberia-The General Services Agency (GSA) headed by its Director General, Galakpah Kortima, has announced plan of harmonizing the purchasing cost of vehicles for some officials of the Liberian Government.
Briefing reporters at MICAT recently, Mr. Kortima said unlike in the past where one minister was seen riding one hundred thousand dollars car while another minister was riding forty-five thousand dollars car, under his watch there will be some condition set to guide the purchasing of cars for these officials.
He explained that at the level of the GSA under his watch they have instituted a committee to revisit all of the policies that were put together regarding government’s assets.
According to him, the committee is also reviewing and finalizing a draft framework document that will put in place several measures that will guide people on how much to acquire vehicles for ministers, deputy ministers and assistant ministers; and the usage of government assets in all of the area ministries and agencies.
He alarmed that there had been a lot of misuse of government assets raging from office equipment to motor vehicle and other moveable items.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kortima mentioned that in a week time all line ministries, the legislature and the judiciary among others will be invited to a stakeholder workshop to review the document adding that at that forum, they will basically be discussing the term and condition of asset usage.
The GSA boss said the document if implemented, the maximum amounts that will be used to purchase cars for all ministers, deputy ministers and assistant ministers will include sixty-five thousand, fifty thousand, and forty thousand dollars respectively.
“So, these are policies that we are going to work on and want to apply to all government institutions that will use voucher system” he stated.
In addition to that, Mr. Kortima said with the regulation that the agency is putting together, the GSA will change depreciation period of government vehicles from three to six years something he noted will begin in the coming budget year.
He maintained that when he took over the GSA there was no line item for vehicle purchase in almost all of the ministries and agencies and commission, but in this budget period, ministers, deputy ministers will be purchasing vehicle and will go for six years period.
Mr. Kortima added that the proposed framework document will empower the GSA to have a modern garage that will be responsible to service all vehicles that will be purchased by the government.
He continued, “Meaning that no ministry, no commission, no agency will carry government car to any other garages in the Republic of Liberia, except approved by the General Service Agency. We got the requisite qualifications, professional mechanics in our institution that will serve to guide all of these maintenance works on those vehicles.”
Kortima disclosed that they have also instituted the public building maintenance which has been dormant over the years that indeed government buildings should be maintained by the GSA.
He said that’s why in the most recent past the agency has done assessment on buildings including the building that houses the Ministry of Information among many others and has also rehabilitated the building that will host the ECOWAS mission in Liberia on the Soviet Ice Cream Road.
He also mentioned that the GSA has worked with the Principal and the Board of Governors of the Booker T. Washington Institute to carry out rehabilitation works on the dormitories and other academic buildings in Kakata.
In conclusion, Mr. Kortima said GSA has done an assessment on the tourism building in Grand Cape Mount County under the auspices of the Ministry of information and the report had been submitted to the Minister Jerolinmek Piah while it is waiting for a respond on how rehabilitation work can be done.
Comments are closed.