Written by Savitri Laikram
AUDITOR General Deodat Sharma yesterday presented to Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman, The Audited Report on the Public Accounts of Guyana and those of ministries, departments and regions for the year 2012.

This was done at the Parliament Buildings in Brickdam, where Sharma said the Audit Office has once again met its statutory deadline for the presentation of the report. The report was presented on the day of its statutory deadline.

Sharma said the report was due by the ninth month following the close of the financial year, and the Ministry of Finance is required to submit its statements to be audited by April 30 following the close of the financial year, and the ministry complied with that stipulation.
Sharma said this is his ninth report, the last four have been presented by the statutory deadline. This, he said, would not have been possible without the support of the efficient staff of the Auditor General’s Office.
“I must also thank the accounting officers for responding to my findings within the one-month time span within which they had to respond,” he said.
This report will be laid in the National Assembly by the Speaker, who would pass it on to the Public Accounts Committee to be examined.

The accounting officers are required to appear before this committee to answer the queries raised by the auditor general.
He noted that these sittings are open to the public, so that persons can hear if their taxpaying dollars have been spent wisely. “That is why I say sometimes that the auditor general is the taxpayer’s best friend,” he added.
Sharma said this report was prepared in keeping with the Mission Statement of the Audit Office.

Some of the things highlighted are:
* The execution of high-quality audits – a quality assurance section ensures this is carried out.
* Timely reporting to the legislature and ultimately to the public – reports for the last four years have been on time, and the auditor general will seek to continue issuing these reports on time, of course, with the great assistance of the staff of the auditor general’s office.

* Developing professional relationships with our clients, and producing reports which will facilitate improvements in their operations. Some ministries — such as the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance — have been using the auditor general’s report over the years as a management tool to improve their operations. The Local Government Ministry has now introduced an Internal Auditing Department and has hired legal personnel to assist them.

* The Ministry of Finance has an established Internal Audit Department that would correct and prevent some of the problems that has been highlighted in the Auditor General’s Report.
* The recruitment and retention of the best qualified personnel to achieve set targets on a sustained basis. He said that professional development continues, and in this regard, a number of staff have been pursuing professional certification in the accounting field recognised by the Association of Chartered Accountants. There are 23 university degree holders, 32 officers who are at varying stages of acquiring professional qualifications, whilst five senior officers have successfully completed the fellowship programme in Canada on Performance/Value for Money Audits. Five officers were also trained in various audit-related areas under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme in India.

Sharma reported that the audit of the Audit Office has been well managed, and he noted that the Audit Office accounts have been audited up to 2012 by a private chartered accountant.
The staff of the audit office has increased from 131 in 2005 to 212 in 2013, an increase of 81 staff. This represents a vacancy rate of seven per cent.
The auditor general also lauded the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for its continued support in increasing the office’s technical capacity. They have, with the assistance of US$300,000 support the following area:
* Purchase of computer hardware and software.

* Assist in training, through Algonquin College of Canada, online courses in Forensic and Fraud Investigation.

*Has in place a special consultant who assists the audit office in auditing controls.

* A consultant would also be appointed to assist the audit office in enhancing human resource development.

Sharma posited that the Indian Government continues to support the audit office in its professional development by sponsoring at least five audit officers every year to attend training through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme in India.

Collaborate with Caribbean Organisations of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI).
The auditor general reported that, in March 2013, he presented the lead paper at the 25th congress of CAROSAI on the topic ‘Collaboration as a tool for promoting best Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) practise’.

As a result of this discussion, a proposal which will pave the way for the realisation of the strategic goals of CAROSAI was developed at the congress:
* Sustaining organisation capacity.

* Strengthening Institutional capacity

* Developing professional capacity

* Strengthening influence of SAI in the region.

He concluded that, as a part of this collaboration, the SAI of Guyana and other SAIs, including the SAI of Barbados, have entered into a cooperative audit on the audit of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the respective SAI. This is scheduled to be carried out in 2014.
Speaker Raphael Trotman, receiving the report, lauded the Office for its timely submission, and said that the report would be presented to the National Assembly when the 10th Parliament reconvenes on October 10.
Trotman also congratulated the auditor general and his staff for their commendable work.