Maputo — The Maputo Provincial Directorate of Education has submitted a criminal case to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) against four building contractors who received money in the context of Covid-19 pandemic and did not carry out the work contracted for, which was installing taps and associated facilities for hand washing.

"As the contractors have not carried out the work, a case has already been filed with the Attorney General's Office', the Maputo Provincial Directorate of Education said, cited in Tuesday's issue of the Maputo independent daily "O País.'

Recently, the Administrative Tribunal, the body responsible for checking the legality of public expenditure, published an audit report which named several institutions, including the Ministries of Health and Education, as involved in the diversion of Covid-19 funds.

The Provincial Directorate of Education claims to have received just over 101 million meticais (1.5 million dollars at the current exchange rate) from the fund made available to fight Covid-19.

"Of this amount, around 55 million meticais was managed directly by the Provincial Directorate, which was intended for the construction of mixed rooms and hand washing facilities', the institution said.

A budget of over 12 million meticais was allocated to the construction of 246 hand washing points, of which only 22 have been built "and the rest have not yet been completed due to non-compliance by four of the five contractors selected.'

"In numerical terms, it was planned to build 46 mixed rooms, of which 40 have already been completed and the remaining six are in the final stages, costing over 43 million meticais', the Maputo Provincial Directorate of Education explained, claiming that it has made good use of the COVID funds and has even sent reports to the Ministry of Education.