The Baltic Sea takes about 50 hectares of land worth PLN 500 million every year. The whole seashore is getting eroded systematically, of which more than a half intensively - in some places the earth is receding by over 1 metre a year. NIK checked how the maritime administration protects the seashore. The audit covered the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy (in 2013, its tasks were taken over by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development) and three maritime offices (in Gdynia, Słupsk and Szczecin).
NIK negatively evaluates activities taken by the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy in the area of seashore protection. For five years, the Minister has not led to the amendment of the Act on the development of the ”Long-term programme for seashore protection” for the years 2004 - 2023 (PSP) which is the fundamental legal act defining ways and places of carrying out investments as well as their financing. Nearly PLN 1 billion was appropriated to the Programme implementation. The basic objective of the act is to protect the shoreline to maintain its condition from the year 2000 and to prevent further decline of beaches. During the audit in 2009, though, NIK stated that none of the maritime administration bodies knew what the shoreline in the year 2000 looked like. It means that there are no indicators to state if the objectives defined by the Act have been achieved or not. At that time, NIK recommended amending the Act to update the areas covered by the Programme and specifying the indicators precisely. In the very same year, the directors of maritime offices sent proposals to the Ministry concerning the update of shoreline stretches to be covered by the priority protection. Having finished the audit, NIK will address the President of the Council of Ministers with a request to speed up works of the subordinate Ministry.
Since the time of the audit in 2009, the Minister has been aware of and accepted the fact that the maritime offices’ heads spend the Programme money inappropriately. The reason was that the Programme assumptions did not reflect the real needs. The maritime offices’ directors frequently financed tasks not provided for in PSP by using funds earmarked for the Programme. As a consequence, they spent public funds inappropriately which constitutes a violation of the Act on Liability for the Breach of Public Finance Discipline and of the Public Finance Act. NIK points out that the fact that the tasks defined in the Act are not adjusted to actual needs is no excuse for breaching the provisions of other acts.
NIK positively evaluates the way the Maritime Office in Szczecin implemented the long-term programme: ”Construction of the protective breakwater for the exterior harbour in Świnoujście”. A protective, 3-kilometre long breakwater and a new wing dam were built as well as dredging works were carried out as part of the Programme. That allowed adjustment of the harbour to new requirements related to the reloading of the liquefied natural gas.
NIK has criticised implementation of the long-term programme: ”Construction of the waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Bay of Gdańsk”. The investment has not been started at all and PLN 4.6 million was used until the end of 2012.
In the audit of maritime offices NIK identified irregularities resulting from the directors or employees’ non-compliance with the effective law and procedures. For instance, in Słupsk an investment was carried out against the terms of the construction permit, which was a breach of the Construction Law. In the period 2010-2013, the Director of the City Council in Gdynia granted his employees extra task performance benefits of over PLN 1.1 million for the works they did as part of their official duties. By doing so he infringed provisions of the Civil Service Act and of the Public Finance Act. In a few cases in Gdynia and Szczecin it was not verified if the tenders provided for an abnormally low tender price in relation to the object of procurement (which is a requirement under the Public Procurement Act). According to NIK this is partly a consequence of the imprecise law. NIK has submitted relevant recommendations to the Prime Minister in this matter.
Following the audit completion NIK has also formulated relevant system recommendations:
to the Minister of Infrastructure and Development:
- to develop an amendment of the Act on the Programme development and submit it to legislative procedures, e.g. in terms of precisely specifying the shoreline maintenance indicators and updating the areas covered by the PSP.
- to ensure effective supervision of activities taken by the maritime offices’ directors, (e.g. by verifying the content of requests for the allocation of funds for extra task performance benefits) and effective elimination of the inappropriate use of funds.
to the President of the Council of Ministers:
- to coordinate and audit on an on-going basis the Minister of Infrastructure and Development in order to ensure efficient and reliable development of the draft Act amending the Act on PSP development.
In this audit NIK has referred to the findings of the audit ”Performance of investor’s duties by the General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) while conducting road investments” and has requested the President of the Council of Ministers to speed up works on the Public Procurement Act so as to provide precise definition of the term ”abnormally low tender price” and define procedures in such cases.
NIK’s recommendation addressed to the directors of maritime offices concerned compliance with effective procedures and provisions of law, especially of the Construction Law and the ones relating to the appropriate use of funds.
