The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC funds were used to finance travel for a “senior civil servant” and his wife to New Providence for “personal health reasons,” an auditor general’s 2012-2013 report has revealed.

The audit conducted by Auditor General Terrence Bastian said while scrutinising a payment voucher dated May 13, 2013, officials noted a payment in the amount of $389.98 made for two round trip tickets from the Exuma district to New Providence for the civil servant and his wife to attend the doctor.

The report, which referred to the Exuma district’s Central Government Recurrent account, said that at the time, officials were “not certain whether expenses of this nature were permissible.”

“We recommended that an explanation be given to explain why public funds were expended to finance travel for personal health reasons or the authority be provided for audit review,” the report said.

Among other irregularities found in Family Island administration, the report also noted that a payment dated February 19, 2013, in the amount of $10,697.24 was made for Local Government contractual workers, which included “garbage collection for the northern main land area” of the North Eleuthera district. However, the report said the payment voucher was “void of cheque number and voucher number.”

In another instance, the report said a number of cheques were made payable to a clerk in the Local Government office in the amount of $3,700. However, officials could not determine the reason for the payments.

As a result, the report said: “In our opinion, the accounts of the Local Government Upper Bogue Eleuthera District were not maintained at a satisfactory standard in all respects, specifically the non-preparation of bank reconciliation statements for this account. Internal controls need to be strengthened to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the financial operations. Therefore, we could not give assurance to the correctness and completeness of the accounts.”

The report also said that a safe at the Upper Bogue, Eleuthera administrator’s office was opened without the presence of an accounting officer. The safe was reportedly opened after having been taken to the Governor’s Harbour Police Station following a “series of fires” at the administrator’s office on July 2, 2013, that “completely destroyed the building which housed the offices of the Local Government and the Postal Section”.

Officials subsequently said that the accounts of the Local Government Upper Bogue district were “not maintained at a satisfactory standard in all respects,” and said internal controls needed to be “strengthened to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the financial operations”.

Until such time, the audit said it “could not give assurance to the correctness and completeness of the accounts”.

The report also noted a number of inefficiencies in local government expenditure in both the Exuma and North Eleuthera districts, such as a lack of accompanying documents, and a deviation from “established accounting procedures”.

The report was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday.