2.7 Billion dollars worth of contract awarded without any signed minutes or deliberations

The house of Kemal Dervis is now on fire!!

The unionist leader Dimitri Samaras has now fingerpointed and denounced publicly UNDP, that in the past 28 months has been awarding contracts worth 2.7 billion dollars without SIGNED MINUTES and COLLEGIAL APPROVAL from the Contract Award Committee.

Only days after the CORIMEC scandal erupted, in which UNDP awarded a multi-million contract to a company barred from doing business with United Nations, on January 17th 2008, an urgent meeting took place in which members of ACP discussed on how amd what had happened.

In the meeting, members asked forcefully to Krishan to explain how could CORIMEC contract have been awarded when most of them were under the impression that they had rejected it back in March 2007?

All members in the meeting demanded to see the minutes of the ACP. .....But wait ...what minutes? there were no minutes.......

Krishan Batra explained that he did not kept minutes for the past two and half years, because minutes were a bureaucratic burden and would have complicated the life of many at UNDP HQs.
Therefore he, Krishan Batra, on his own, without asking the legal advice nor the permission of his supervisors, has deliberated and awarded contracts as WAIVERS and DIRECT PROCUREMENTS worth 2.7 billion dollars in total absence of any minutes.

Samaras and two other junior Arabs at PSO raised the issue of minutes and demanded transparency for public funds bestowed to UNDP. Samaras said that: "was not proper and cautious for an organization like UNDP to manage public funds at these levels without any minutes or records of them".

He continued saying that: -"As an Ex Officio member, I always felt that the members could have a different view on any particular case and those views should be clearly reflected so that it will represent all respective positions. "

Now a year after the CORIMEC contract was awarded, all records of who and how that contract was done - were totally deleted. Leaving room for anyone to fingerpoint anyone else, but Krishan Batra.

Samaras and two junior Arabs urged strongly in the meeting that: "UNDP should find a quick way to rectify and move on with an adequate system within a legal framework for good practices purposes.. Issues of accountability are to be factored in..."

Meanwhile many donors are now ralling together against Kemal Dervis. Some are already contemplating to bring the matter of UNDP at various foras inside and outside the UN.

To award 2.7 billion in total absence of any collegial deliberations and signed minutes, is a gross negligence that Kemal Dervis and Ad Melkert should think twice for allowing Krishan Batra and Akiko Yuge to continue to serve as heads of Procurements in UNDP.

At this point the Secretary General should intervene and bring order in the house of Kemal Dervis, and he should initiate immediately an independent investigation into how UNDP has awarded 2.7 billion USD and to whom.