Andrea Perez-Sobers
Senior Reporter
andrea.perez-sobers@guardian.co.tt
Majority state-owned Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) owes wholly state-owned National Petroleum Marketing Company (NP) millions of dollars in outstanding bills for aviation fuel, it was disclosed yesterday.
This was revealed by Chester Beeput, NP’s general manager of aviation and marine fuels, during a session of a Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC), that is examining NP's audited accounts, balance sheet and other financial statements.
Beeput told the PAEC that CAL, which is the NP’s biggest aviation customer, owes NP $ 15 million, of which $5 or $ 6 million, would have been overdue, as the airline company usually pays NP between $5 and $10 million a week.
He said NP follows up with CAL and payments will eventually be made, at which point the airline would become current.
“So, we tend to have a lag with Caribbean Airlines, but again they will settle their invoices, in a relatively timely manner,” Beeput said.
Giving details about the contract between the two state-owned companies and Rubis Caribbean, NP’s Marla Pacheco, acting manager of legal and company secretary, noted that there has been back and forth on the agreements, in the sense that sometimes NP has a lag in receiving responses and that is what primarily causes the delay in the finalisation and the execution of the agreement.
“In terms of getting timely feedback from the other entity, whether it be Rubis or Caribbean Airlines, there is a significant delay in NP receiving a response for the settlement of the terms and agreement,” Pacheco explained.
The PAEC chairman Wade Mark injected by asking why it takes so long for the NP’s board to be made aware of these delays.
He called for clarification about the delays and asked if this was still taking place.
“I raise this to bring to your attention the concerns of the external auditor. The auditors are very concerned that this could cause some challenges to the company, so that is why I am asking if this is still going on,” Mark mentioned.
Pacheo responded by saying “There may have been an improvement in the time in which responses are received and what the legal department will do is laze with the line department, in terms of receiving follow-ups, to progress the matter further.”
NP was also criticised by Mark for its failure to provide up-to-date financial statements.
In giving an explanation, NP chairman Sahid Hosein said part of the problem was the company having to wait its turn for the accounting firm to do its audits.
“Part of the issue is that the accounting firm does not have NP alone in its portfolio of clients and therefore sometimes we have to wait our turn even though they would tell you they are ready and waiting. The accounting firm has indicated that by the end of this month, 2022 financials will be completed and I think at the end of this year we should have 2023, if not 2024 also,” Hosein outlined.
This incensed the committee chairman, who said the accounting firm was out of place to tell NP it has too much work.
“Get rid of them," Mark exclaimed.
“If they cannot deal with you, fire them and get somebody else, but to keep the taxpayers abreast with the expenditure, we need to be on time,” he lamented.
Mark asked whether the time has come to impose penalties when financial statements are not submitted on time to parliament.