The government sustains injuries through the loss of revenues, theft of public property, destruction of property through fire, natural disasters, and armed conflict, and payment of damages to private parties arising out of court rulings, among others.

But it also loses when the vast resources at its command – public funds, equipment, property, and other capital goods -- are idled or are not put to use.

When these assets are mothballed, they are derisively called “white elephants.”     

You’ve also heard of the saying: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” 

Well, here’s one case where the smoke has not yet even been detected and yet the government already got burned in the sense that it has been denied income from the purchase of equipment valued in the hundreds of millions of pesos.  

The Commission on Audit reported that P181 million worth of smoke-emission testing equipment purchased by the Road Board of the Department of Public Works and Highways in 2008 and 2009 have never been used.

In its 2010 report, the CoA said that the government has been deprived of “the opportunity to earn much needed income from testing fees that could have been used for more productive activities to improve government service”.

CoA auditors said that except for the testing device installed at the Land Transportation Office in Region VII that is already operational, all Motor Vehicle Inspection Systems equipment procured in 2008 and 2009 valued at P181.06 million and distributed to regional offices were still not being used as of 2010.

CoA said the MVIS was intended to provide a systematic, reliable, and effective emission testing of motor vehicles nationwide in accordance with the Land Transportation and Traffic Code of the Philippines and the Clean Air Act of 1999.

One of the requirements of the LTO for motor vehicle registration in the country is the smoke-emission test to ensure that registered vehicles are safe and compliant with road safety rules as well as air pollution-control standards.

The MVIS project also involves the establishment of a Motor Vehicle Inspection Center  in LTO offices nationwide.

Records show that in May 2008, 11 sets of MVIS equipment were procured and paid for by the LTO Central Office, followed by six sets and another five sets in November 2009 for a total cost of P181,061,296.96.

The equipment, delivered to the different regional offices, were inspected and accepted by the end users and P31.952 million was set aside for installation.

CoA said its evaluation of the implementation of the project in the regional offices revealed that five sets of MVIS were already installed in Regions III, IV-A, VII and NCR North MVIS and South MVIS with installation cost amounting to P10,707,557.58.

However, the unit installed in Region VII was the only one operational while those installed in Region III and the National Capital Region were not used due to interconnectivity glitches.

The MVIS equipment in Region IV-A was already installed but could not be operated because officials there are still waiting for the release of funds to be used as advance payment to the Manila Electric Co. for the approval of its application for single metering.

CoA said that in the case of LTO Regions I, X, and XII, the equipment were not yet installed because of the delayed construction of Phase II of the MVIS building allegedly due to budget constraints.