Students, along with community and non-profit groups, continue to benefit from the province’s surplus equipment and materials.
Nova Scotia’s Surplus Crown Property Disposal Report, tabled today, Dec.12, in the House of Assembly, outlines how $15.5-million of surplus materials were disposed of during the last fiscal year.
“With thousands of employees in the civil service we have a large amount of equipment to keep track of,” said Geoff MacLellan, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. “Our inventory control staff ensure nothing goes to waste and that equipment we no longer need goes to groups that can really use it.”
The Computers for Schools Program is the main beneficiary of government surplus efforts, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of used computer equipment. The list includes 1,784 computers, 1,501 keyboards, 618 monitors, and 319 printers. This equipment was refurbished and put into schools throughout Nova Scotia.
Non-profit and community groups are able to apply for donations of government surplus items. The report lists thousands of items such as chairs, tables, desks, filing cabinets, and who received them. Items were given to 79 different non-profit organizations and 87 different schools.
Other revenue sources outlined in the report include the sale of surplus land, and the sale of equipment by public tender or through public auctions.
The sale of surplus land was the largest revenue generator, bringing in more than $15 million, mostly from the sale of the Joseph Howe Building in downtown Halifax. The department’s annual auction of heavy equipment brought in $198,595 and auctions of other surplus equipment raised $132,813. All profits are put toward the province’s bottom line.
Surplus items are distributed under the authority of the Surplus Crown Property Disposal Act. The 10 categories of surplus items listed in the report are:
— disposed real property, such as land and/or buildings
— items sold at public auction
— items sold through public tender
— items donated to non-profit, non-government agencies;
— scrap waste
— material sent for recycling
— computer equipment for the Computer for Schools program;
— heavy equipment sold at public auction
— surplus equipment used in school renovations and construction
— equipment transferred to public school boards.
The full report is available at http://novascotia.ca/tran/publications/SCPDR.pdf .
Source: Release
