New GasBoy system to tighten up fuel management
DVES Director Richard Simms (L) and DVES deputy director Stephen Quinland
(CNS): A new fuel system has been introduced by the Department of Vehicle and Equipment Services (DVES) that it said will improve control of the public cash spent filling up government’s fleet of vehicles. The potential for abuse of the card payment system being used by public sector workers at the government depot was exposed by the Office of the Auditor General several years ago, when he suggested as much as $500k worth of fuel annually was being misused.
Government has about 1,200 vehicles and pieces of equipment, including off-road and support vehicles, which are filled up at its fuel depot in George Town. But since 1996 it has been using a system that the government auditors said was far from adequate to ensure that costly fuel was being used solely for government work.
This new system comes into effect four years after the OAG exposed the details of an internal audit and calculated that much as half a million dollars of fuel each year was being used for non-government purposes and that 30% of transactions at the depot could be fraudulent. In a follow-up report three years ago a further internal review had found the GasBoy system was still being abused and the department had not implemented the necessary protections to stop the potential for fraud.
However, officials said Monday that this new system, ‘Gas Boy Islander Plus’, which is being delivered by the same firm, provides more “robust audit control features to protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of information” in relation to the use of fuel paid for by the taxpayer. “It provides specific information on all invoicing and changes to facilitate in-depth analysis for auditing,” the department said in a release announcing the implementation of the latest GasBoy system.
The DVES said the web-based enterprise fleet management software would help the department keep track of fuel usage and deliver significant ongoing cost savings measures. Described as a more modern software management system than its predecessors, this system allows easy interfacing to current and future applications and provides “real time” information, the department added. DVES is responsible for the storage and supply of fuel for all government vehicles from police cars to garbage trucks. The facility comprises of three 6,000 US gallon underground storage tanks with four fuel dispensing pumps.
As well as saving money and cutting out fraud, the department said it would allow DVES to realize greater control over its operations by automating maintenance scheduling; providing enhanced integration with its supplier of fuel, while streamlining the department’s monthly billing process to other departments and government statutory authorities. The system will automatically ensure that this high cost area is effectively tracked and exceptions flagged for management review.
DVES Director Richard Simms said the department was pleased with this system.
“We were looking for a system that is reliable, innovative, and cost-effective and meet the fleet operation’s needs, with more than dispensing, controlling, and managing fuel,” he said. “Some of the key features I like about the system it that it is able to do both automated and manual fueling, it can set authorization operations for vehicle and person, its control operations to set limitations (daily, weekly, monthly) and restrictions and its accounting operations for billing/invoice, storage data, quantity, time, fuel usage by person and vehicle.”
Simms also offered his thanks to the department’s tender committee, Carrol Cooper, Duke Monroe, John King and Miguel Jacques, who helped to select the latest version of the GasBoy system.
Category: Local News
Millions lost…Where are the prosecutions?
A thief is a thief…
May be using the gas to attend church on Sunday.
1,200 government vehicles for a population of how many???
Wow!
Don’t matter what fancy schmancy system you put in place if nobody is willing to monitor the system daily and make some tough calls when needed.
What did Einstein say about Insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
In the UK many, if not most, public authorities long ago found that it was more efficient to buy fuel from the regular gas stations then operate their own depot. Over there it’s quite common to see public service vehicles like police cars and ambulances filling up at the pumps alongside regular motorists.
Do we really even need GasBoy or the fuel depot? In fact does CIG really need a fleet of 1200 vehicles? Apparently many of them are cars and trucks used by civil servants as nothing more than their own private transport. I bet this is one perk that could easily be slashed and save us CI$millions.
Love how they let the gravy train roll on for as long as possible before taking action. And they’ve probably made sure the new system won’t work either. In reality this is theft. It should be simple to make sure that only government vehicles were using the system – just put the license plate on the card.
First of all we need to find out who these two folks are showing their thumbs down and ask Mr Swarbrick to keep an eye on them.
A half million dollars a year for 4 years (that we know of.) How many people have been dismissed from the civil service for theft?
Sure, there is no corruption in Cayman.
Stop blaming the Gas Boy system. A system is only as good as the managemennt which overseas and runs in. Or in CI Government’ case, the total lack of management.
Total lack of management AND thieving employees.
Sad but true.
Is this company affiliated in anyway with the pay system used by other government entities? My confidence level in this system is absent, sign of the times and nothing personal to anyone involved, so hope the heads of departments not thinking they can keep setting up systems that give some people opportunities to gain temporarily.
@Anonymous 10:04. You said, “systems that give some people opportunities to gain temporarily.” And what makes you think “temporarily”? It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings!
Forgive me for asking, but why would we want a Gas Boy system that enhances the confidentiality of those future abusers of our resources?
Because it means (i) nothing will happen to them or (ii) when they are caught stealing, nothing happens to them and they are simply moved to another Govt. Dept with no vehicle privilege.
Great. One decade later.
“Gas Boy Islander Plus”? Seriously?? This name does not instill in me any confidence nor trust of this “new improved” system whatsoever. Never-mind the fact that it’s from the same firm whose present system created the gas ‘free for all’ in the first place. Round and round we go as this Government once again rewards incompetence.