By Omar Bah
An initial investigation by the Gambia Ports Authority into the activities of its rating unit, has revealed that at least D25 million may have been unaccounted for in 2020 and 2021.
The ports management last week confirmed to The Standard that it has contacted the police to assist them to investigate the allegations of fraud involving some staff of its rating unit.
In February, sources at the GPA informed The Standard that some employees of the unit under the Traffic, Operations, and Logistics Department were allegedly duplicating receipts and making away with over D4 million per week between 2020 and 2022.
Four female staff of the unit were reportedly questioned by the police and later released on bail.
But on Friday, the authority said in a statement shared with The Standard by its spokesperson, Yankuba Manneh, that the investigative panel has submitted its report on Wednesday, March 16.
“The preliminary findings revealed demurrage charges were being understated and receipts issued outside of the system. According to the report, there was no indication that receipts were duplicated but rather understatement of demurrage charges which accounted for the revenue leakage. It is also worthwhile to state that the average revenue collection at the rating unit on an annual basis is around D70 million and the report suggests that D25 million may have been unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021. We therefore remain optimistic that the exact figure could be ascertained upon completion of the further police investigation,” GPA said.
