| The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs now renamed the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, was cited for several financial improprieties in the 2013 report of the guardian of the national purse.Auditor General, Deodat SharmaAuditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma said that the Amerindian Purposes Fund, which was established in 2000, revealed that amounts totaling $433.662M were expended during the period under review. However, an examination of the payments by the AG uncovered “several unsatisfactory features.”The AG noted that payment vouchers presented for audit were not numbered and examined by the competent officers. He said that in addition to that, the cash book was not properly maintained, in that all payments were not recorded therein. As a result, the balance on the Fund at a given time could not be ascertained from the records.Another concern he cited was that the Ministry expended the sum of $29.899M to undertake construction and extension works in Amerindian Villages and Communities. However, at the time of reporting, the Ministry was not in receipt of progress reports or other evidence to validate completion of the works. As a result, the AG said in his report that his office could not be apprised of the status of the works.Sharma also revealed that there was a lack of control over advances issued during the period under review. He said that an advance register was not kept and advance forms were not numbered in keeping with accounting procedures.In a related matter, he said that the Ministry issued from the Fund,Wholesale Jerseys, advances on salary totaling $7.935M. At the time of reporting,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, Sharma said that it could not be ascertained whether all advances were repaid by the officers and whether the Fund was reimbursed with the amounts advanced.Among other irregularities in this regard, he said, was that the Ministry paid sums totaling $82.859M to Community Support Officers in Regions Eight and Nine and despite repeated requests, the Ministry only provided two payment vouchers in support of amounts totaling $35.580M.He said however, that the accuracy and validity of the amounts paid could not be determined, since each voucher lacked documentation in support of the payments. Further, his report also noted that one payment for an amount of $l8.720M was not acknowledged by the payee.Sharma indicated as well that equipment, tools and other items purchased for Regions/Villages were not subject to proper inventory practices and strict control procedures were not exercised in the receipt and distribution of goods or assets purchased for Amerindian Villages.The AG referred to an example of this, stating that even though acquisitions were recorded in the stock ledger, no explanation was given when the items were transferred to the various Amerindian Villages.He asserted that equipment,Cheap Sports Jerseys, tools and other items purchased for Regions/Villages were not inventoried and expressed concern that there was no segregation of duties since the Accountant was tasked with the responsibility of managing the Amerindian Purposes Fund, and also was the signatory on the cheques, charged with writing up the cashbook and the preparation of the bank reconciliation statements.The Ministry, in responding to these financial irregularities, said that the Head of Budget Agency explained that corrective action was being taken to resolve the aforementioned issues and in addition, the numbering of payment vouchers would be implemented immediately.It said,Jerseys NBA China, too, that the villages will be informed to submit reports on their speciûc communities. It noted, however,Jerseys NFL China, that the Ministry has not received all as yet. Notwithstanding this, it said that it has obtained reports from its Community Development Officers in Regions Number One to 10 about the status of the projects and these are being submitted for examination.It stressed that corrective action was being taken to resolve this issue by September 30, 2014,Cheap Stitched MLB Jerseys, and that the vouchers would be forwarded for audit veriûcation. It sought to clarify to the country’s AG that all equipment purchased was recorded, and assured the Audit Office that where errors were, they would be corrected and it would be ensured that there was no recurrence.It also promised to have the task of writing the cash book and preparing bank reconciliation statements delegated to other officers. It said that the previous situation occurred because the Ministry did not have its full complement of staff.The AG nevertheless recommended that the Ministry put systems in place to ensure that all accounting transactions are properly recorded and its accounts are in keeping with standard accounting procedures. |
