A Control Yuan probe report released yesterday found negligence and dereliction of duty by military officers in charge of weapons and parts procurement projects.
Control Yuan members said they uncovered failures in oversight, breaches of acceptance testing, breaches of procurement contracts and possible unlawful conduct in failing to identify fake documents submitted by contractors to cover up parts sourced from China, in 18 military procurement tender projects.
Air Force Command procurement officers and Navy Command, both under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense (MND), must take responsibility and reprimands must be meted out to those guilty of negligence and contraventions in these 18 projects, Control Yuan member Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘) said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Procurement officers under supervision of the Air Force Command had not undertaken the requisite checks for the sourcing of packages for rotor wheels, engine nozzles, windshields and other aircraft parts for maintenance and repair of aircraft, Lai said.
Procurement officers had also not conducted requisite checks on documents provided by contractors for country of origin and manufacturing dates, breaching the terms of the tender contract, he said.
The probe was conducted by Lai together with fellow Control Yuan members Kuo Wen-tung (郭文東) and Hsiao Tzu-yu (蕭自佑).
“Their actions tarnished the fairness and impartiality of government procurement programs, while also undermining aircraft safety, which could jeopardize the lives of the operating crew,” Lai said.
Navy Command also had major breaches in two procurement projects from 2018, for the purchase of valves, electronic control devices and associated parts for ship diesel engines, the probe finding said.
“The tender contracts specified not to source procurement items made in China, but the officers in charge still made the payment, despite the sourcing of many Chinese-made parts,” Lai said.
“Therefore negligence and wrongdoing were involved, and the Navel Command must be reprimanded, and bear responsibility,” Lai added.
Kuo and Hsiao in their probe also found that contractors did not submit the required documents as stipulated in the tender, including for production and expiration dates of parts and import declaration forms. They also failed to follow the guideline on the minimum bid requirement.
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