The recently tabled auditor general’s report reveals the widespread misuse of government funds in the Local Government offices on various Family Islands. The report — which covers the period between July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 — details a lack of accountability or audit trails in the recurrent accounts in many of the local government offices.
According to the report, as it relates to revenue in the Central Andros District, “the practice of omitting the general receipt references for clinic
fees, character references and gun licenses from the cashbook did not leave a good audit trail and impeded the process of verifying the actual
amounts collected.”
The auditor general also found several inconsistencies as it relates to the recurrent expenditure account. “We noted that payments were made to repair the old school building at Blanket Sound,” said the report, which was tabled in the House of Assembly on Monday. “During our site inspection we could not verify where any work was done to the old building.”
Additionally, the report revealed that payments were made for plumbing, supplies, building materials, painting supplies and sundry items but no justification was given for the items purchased and the related projects were not indicated.
The report also revealed that money was spent out of the local government’s reserve account in that district without any evidence of approval from the minister responsible, as is the requirement.
