Transcript
SARA BULUTANI - The 2016 Auditor General's report is one of those reports from the Auditor General's office over the last 10 years which are consistent with the anomalies and the irregularities in how public funds are being utilised and being managed and it is of concern to CCF, an organisation that advocates for human rights and good governance, and since our establishment in 1991 we have been highlighting the issues raised by the auditor general's reports. The same reports of mismanagement of public funds has been highlighted again with no action taken against those responsible and those who are held accountable.
JAMIE TAHANA - When you talk about anomalies. What exactly is it? What are some concrete examples set out in this report from the Auditor General?
SB - First and foremost is the unclaimed container load of medicine that was held at the wharf for 253 days. That is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Another is the unused F$2.6 million grants given to the Ministry of Local Government and also another $30 million unaccounted from the National Fire Authority.
JT - So what is this down to? Incompetence when it comes to spending the allocations or tracking what you've bought?
SB - It is a governance issue and it governance and accountability is who is accountable? Who will be accountable for this? And also who is responsible for this? Whether it is those at the operational level or those at the front desk, or at the director's level, or the permanent secretary level. Those are the questions that we need to ask and also the question of how stringent are the monitoring mechanisms of our financial system in the public sector?
JT - I mean this report would suggest no one's accountable and systems aren't very stringent at all.
SB - CCF, for many years now, we keep saying and we are not changing our position on that. For those accountable, these malpractices should be taken to task.
JT - You're saying that you've been advocating since 1991 for these improvements. Has there been any improvement, any change, in the past 25 years?
SB - To be honest it's becoming worse. Of course we have come a long way since 2006.
JT - Come a long way but it's getting worse. How?
SB - Of course one of the changes that the government brought in was to ensure governance practices in all sectors. But the sad thing is the Auditor General has kept highlighting these irregularities in the manner the public funds are being utilised.
JT - So how exactly has it got worse?
SB - It's happening almost every year. For example, the Ministry of Health in the 2015 Auditor General's report there was a $30 million unused grant while we still have reports coming in from the public of poor service delivery by the health system and leaking hospital roofs, but yet the Auditor General's report stated that the $30 million grant was unused.
JT - Right and so when you say you want better governance. You want good governance practices introduced to improve this, to combat this, to improve things. What exactly do you mean by that? Good governance.
SB - One is the strengthening of accountability mechanisms at the department and ministry level. More awareness and capacity building, the introduction of monitoring systems so that those at the service delivery level knows their role and who they are accountable to and how they manage these funds, how they manage these projects to align with the standards that we want.
JT - You also speak of wanting an accountability and transparency commission?
SB - Yes. We welcome the budget given to the accountability and transparency commission in the budget. But how the commission will operate and how it will fix this ongoing issue has become a sore thumb.
JT - OK so the money's been allocated to an accountability and transparency commission but you have no idea what exactly that will do?
SB - Yes we hope that we'll have people that can work confidently and independently so that they look into this and see that people are taken to task.
