Transport Authority explains seized vehicle sales

Debbie-Ann Wright, News Editor - Radio



The Transport Authority has provided clarification on how it sold 114 vehicles for $483,200.



On Friday, The Gleaner reported that the Transport Authority had sold 114 of 205 vehicles it auctioned through sealed bids to one company for an average of less than $5,000 each.



A press release from the Transport Authority explained that some of the vehicles auctioned were in the pound for more than eight years.



It says there was no bidder for the 114 vehicles which were sold to a single company as they were mostly scrap.



The Authority says the vehicles were therefore bundled and the price negotiated.

Communication manager at the Transport Authority, Petra-Keane Williams has also explained why 17 other vehicles which were auctioned as a part of the sealed bid process were not sold to the highest bidder.



The Transport Authority says the sale was advertised in the press on October 24, 2008.



The irregularities in the auction were pointed out in the Auditor General's Report on an Information Technology Systems Review of the Transport Authority dated April, 2012.



Williams says the Auditor General's department had not raised concern about the auction procedures but whether the proceeds were paid into the Consolidated Fund.



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