The Auditor General’s Report for 2014 says there were numerous instances where ministries and departments disregarded the financial regulations and instructions set down for state bodies.
The report was laid in the House of Representatives yesterday.
Dealing with the realignment of ministerial portfolios in 2013, the Auditor General said Housing, Land and Marine Affairs Ministry was renamed Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and a new entity, the Ministry of Lands and Marine Resources, was created.
The report said: “There was no clear separation of accounting records, responsibilities and staff.
This resulted in numerous errors in the accounting records and posed challenges for the audit.”
The report also revealed: “Subsequent to the year under review, there were changes in responsible officials at a number of ministries/departments) which resulted in appropriation accounts, statements of receipts and disbursements and financial statements of funds being signed in certain instances by persons who were not responsible for transactions occurring in the financial year.”
Dealing with the Ministry of Sport, the Auditor General said a breach committed for the previous two years continued in 2014.
“Funds were not committed in the vote book before vouchers totalling $1,597 million were passed for payment as evidence of ensuring that votes are sufficient to meet all commitments,” the report said.
It added that for non-profit institutions “controls over overpayment under this vote continued to be weak.”
With respect to the Office of the Prime Minister, under “Documents not Produced,” the report said the reconciliation statement and a list of unpaid cheques as at September 30, 2014 “were not submitted to the Auditor General as required.”
It said the void cheques register was also not updated and the last entry seen was for September 28, 2012.
The report also revealed that the lease agreements “were not produced in respect of three properties for which monthly payments of $207, 736 were made.”
In the personnel department, the report said: “Total rent of $26.6 million for the period December 10, 2012 to September 30, 2014 was paid to one landlord for unoccupied premises.” It said that “contravenes” the existing financial regulations.
Restoration projects
On the Red House project restoration project, the report said: “Neither a contract nor a memorandum of understanding was produced to support payments totalling $14,911,014.83 made to the executing agency under this project.”
It added: “A contract was also not presented for the services of the quantity surveyor on the project to whom sums totalling $5,940,494.23 were paid during the year. As a result, compliance with terms and conditions of execution and provision of services could not be ascertained.”
There were similar issues with the Stollmeyer’s Castle restoration project.
“This project is currently in its 11th year of operation (and) expenditure since inception in 2005 to September 30, 2014 totalled $73,488,534.63,” the auditor general said.
“A visit to the site revealed that the furniture for the castle, which is stored in an adjacent building, is termite-infested and deteriorating.
The surroundings are also not being properly maintained although a landscape maintenance provider had been retained for this purpose.”
The report said $6.4 million was also spent on the Whitehall restoration project from 2009 to September 30, 2014.
But it said as reported in the previous year, “the building continues to be bird-infested and deteriorating. Antique furniture and fittings are also not being adequately secured and protected.”
The report also said a copy of the National Oncology Centre contract between the executing agency and a construction company relating to payments totalling $51,5 million “was not seen.”