KUCHING: A total of 24 of the 32 Sarawak state ministries, departments and agencies audited in 2018, achieved an ‘Excellent level’ in financial management, according to the 2018 Auditor General’s Report Series 1.
It stated that seven other ministries, departments and state agencies that were audited reached ‘Good’ level while one was ‘Satisfactory’.
“The Financial Management (Accountability Index) aspects of the Procurement Management element, found that the 24 ministries, departments and agencies in the state reached the level of excellence, while four were at ‘Good’, one at ‘Satisfactory’ and the remaining three were ‘Less than Satisfactory’,” the report said.
The weaknesses from the ministries, departments and agencies were that they had not used the Operating Expenditure allocation and spent no more than 50% for Development Expenditure.
Another issue raised by the National Audit Department was regarding official receipts which should be issued at the time of the transaction.
The report added that a receipt should be given to the payer if he or she was present and if public money was received by post or delivery, the official receipt should be prepared on that day and delivered by the next working day.
According to the report, a total of 73 receipts amounting to RM406,480 involving the state’s ministries, departments and agencies of Sarawak had been delayed between one and 35 working days, adding that the relevant parties should take immediate action
“State government agencies also need to monitor the activities of companies that belong to them to establish good governance, comply with government law and regulations, be competitive and ensure the objectives of the company are fully achieved,“ he said. - Bernama
