PAC wants overhaul of public sector internal audit system
Published:Wednesday | June 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament wants a complete overhaul of the internal audit system in the public sector in an effort to address a major Achilles heel in government and save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The recommendation is one of several contained in the final report of the PAC to the Government which was discussed yesterday by members of the committee, and which will be submitted to Parliament.
"During its deliberations, the committee discovered that losses and irregularities occurred frequently in many ministries/department/agencies, and members felt that steps must be taken to minimise, if not eliminate, the loss of scarce government resources. Losses were manifested in various forms such as overpayments in allowances and emoluments, and the theft of items such as computers and other equipment from secure storage areas," the report stated.
The committee said that in many instances where items went missing, this was facilitated by the lack of a proper inventory system, failure on the part of responsible officers to record the items in the existing inventory, and inadequate controls over access to these facilities.
According to committee chairman, Dr Omar Davies, "PAC members expressed their frustration over the inability of systems to have individuals removed from these positions or imprisoned, (sending) a clear signal to these persons that their actions would go unpunished."
It was the recommendation of the committee that regular checks be done of the items stored so that unauthorised removal of these items could be detected immediately and, if such situations occur, the ministries should not delay in contacting the police.
frustrations echoed
Yesterday also, committee members echoed frustrations over the inability of the committee to effect sanctions on transgressing public-sector employees, even as they pressed for greater accountability.
Members lamented the egregious breach by public-sector entities of not completing financial and bank reconciliation statements on time.
Davies, in his report, said the PAC was alarmed at the number of entities which failed to present their statements on time or, in some instances, not at all.
Various reasons were advanced for the failure to meet statutory deadlines, including the failure of external auditors to complete the statements on time.
The committee believed the matter was not a priority and expressed frustration that the lack of sanctions for non-compliance contributed to the continued breach.
The committee has recommended that regulations to the Public Bodies and Accountability Act be enacted to provide sanctions for failure to present audited statements on time.
PAC members also paid tribute to Davies, the outgoing chairman, who relinquishes the chair to the new opposition spokesman on finance, Dr Peter Phillips.
Davies has chaired the committee since the change of government in 2007, and members from both sides saluted him for the professional way in which he has conducted the deliberations of the meetings since.
Committee member Dr Morais Guy, who has a perfect attendance record to the meetings, saluted Davies for his understanding of the issues and the sector. He said his handling of the deliberations has defused many potential storms both inside and outside the committee.
Andrew Gallimore, who, like Guy, has a perfect record, echoed similar sentiments and wished him well. So did member Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert.