The operations of the Tobago House of Assembly have been called into question by some comments in the latest Auditor General's report October 1st 2023 to September 30th 2024.
The Chief Secretary Farley Augustine is responding to the comments, Mr. Augustine spoke to TV6's Elizabeth Williams.
00:00With respect to the Office of the Chief Secretary Automated Clearinghouse, ACH, payments of over $1 million were not supported by relevant documents, hence the expenditure could not be verified.
00:13Assembly legislature rates used to calculate hotel allowances and daily allowances were not in keeping with a circular from the Minister of Finance.
00:22This resulting in amounts being paid in excess of what should have been paid to officers selected for travel.
00:30An additional allowance to cover ground transportation was paid to certain officers together with the prescribed flat allowance, which covers airport taxes and airport ground transportation.
00:44Authorization for the additional allowance was not produced for audit, the Auditor General said.
00:50The report continued that the rate used to calculate hotel allowances was not in keeping with the Minister of Finance's circular, resulting in overpayments to officers selected for travel.
01:04Authorization for overseas travel was not seen for amounts paid totaling over $129,000.
01:12Expenditure figures, as shown on the subsidiary ledger cards, did not agree with those shown on the vote book, scheduled of accounts, and the Division's financial statements for items of expenditure listed.
01:27And there is more.
01:29As listed in the section dealing with unpresented checks, the Auditor General identified financial statements that did not agree with the amounting records, which showed a figure of $17 million at year-end for unpresented checks.
01:46Under the heading Central Administrative Services Tobago, Security Services, contract agreements were not provided for audit.
01:55As a result, expenditure of over $3 million could not be verified.
02:00Chief Secretary Farley-Augustin, when contacted on the matter, said he could not understand why documents to be uploaded were not done.
02:08Chief Secretary Farley- ACH transactions are really online-based transactions, and so the documentation for those transactions will remain online.
02:22I can't understand at this juncture why those transactions, why those documents were not printed and simply given to the Auditor General.
02:31I saw the report only when it was laid in Parliament.
02:37I did not get the benefit of seeing a management letter.
02:41Had I received a management letter, I would have certainly instructed that the relevant documents be printed and given to the Auditor General.
02:50With regards to overseas travel and the Auditor General's concerns, the Chief Secretary said this matter is being investigated.
02:58The process is that there must be an exec council note approving the travel.
03:07The exec council note, once that gets approval, then accountants are to follow the circular in providing strictly, based on the circular, what the podiums and the necessary spend would be.
03:25So this matter, tourism, is actually being investigated as we speak.
03:32Mr. Agustin said additional training for public officers would be provided to prevent future errors.
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