Numerous financial improprieties continue to dog the Amerindian Purposes Fund (APF), according to the Auditor-General’s report for 2014 which also questioned the legality of the fund.
The report noted that APF was established in 2000 in keeping with a proviso in Section 26 of the Amerindian Act. The Act was later repealed by Section 84 of the Amerindian Act (2006), which did not provide for the operation of the fund. Nonetheless, the original Act, at Section 29, required the preparation of financial statements and an audit by the Auditor General. “This, even though not captured in the current Act, are best practice requirements of any accounting process, but were never satisfied since the opening of the fund,” the report said.
The explanation given by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, now the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs was that the ministry wrote to the Ministry of Legal Affairs twice for advice on the way forward to ensure the legality of the fund was replenished. However, to date a reply was not received and a reminder will be sent to the ministry.
The Audit Office again recommended that the ministry aggressively follow-up the matter with the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
It also highlighted the numerous financial rules being flouted in relation to the operations of the APF for prior years, most of which continued in 2014.
Among these was that at the end of 2011, there were two transactions valued at $292,500, which were awaiting the Finance Secretary’s approval before the fund could be restored. These transactions were related to the year 2007. Although approval was received from the Finance Secretary and a cheque to the value of $292,500 was drawn, the amount was still not deposited into the fund.
In addition, a cash book was maintained, but this was not updated for the period November 2009 to December 2010. In relation to the years 2011 to 2013, although entries were made in the book, it was not balanced at the end of each month. This situation continued in 2014. Further, bank reconciliation, which was done up to November 2009, reflected an unreconciled balance of $11,362. At the time of reporting in September 2015, no other bank reconciliation statements were prepared.
The AG’s report also pointed out that the sum of $11.314 million was received in 2012 but not acknowledged by the ministry until April 2013. The reason for the late acknowledgement could not be ascertained.
Further, receipts totalling $1.105 billion applicable to year 2013 were traced to the bank account but were not recorded in the cash book during 2013. “A similar situation existed in 2014, where amounts totalling $27.793 million for which no receipts were seen were deposited into the bank account but, the amounts were not recorded in the cash book. In addition, receipts were written for amounts totalling $1.278 million and deposited in the bank account but were not entered in the cash book,” the report said.
It was pointed out too that payment vouchers which were presented for audit were not numbered and examined by the competent officer. Further, the cash book was not properly maintained in that all payments were not recorded. As a result, the balance on the fund at a given time could not be ascertained from the records. This situation continued in 2014.
It was reported that the ministry expended the sum of $29.899 million in 2013 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 Audit Office was unable to ascertain the status of the works.
The report said that there was a lack of control over advances issued during the period under review. An advance register was not kept and advance forms were not numbered in keeping with sound accounting procedures. Further, it could not be determined whether all advances were repaid by the officers and whether these amounts were reimbursed to the Fund. “A similar situation existed in 2014 where seventy-three advances totalling $21.776 million were issued. Also included in the seventy-three advances [were] twenty-seven salary advances totalling $1.089 million,” the report said.
It also pointed out that the ministry paid sums totalling $82.859 million to Community Support Officers in Regions 8 and 9 in 2013. “Despite repeated requests to verify this amount, the ministry only provided two payment vouchers totalling $35.580 million. Both lacked documentation and one for an amount of $18.720 million was not acknowledged by the payee. As a result, the accuracy and validity of the amount of $82.859 million paid could not be determined,” it said.
The report also noted that equipment, tools and other items purchased for regions/villages were not inventorised. A similar situation continued to exist in 2014; and strict control procedures were not exercised in the receipt and distribution of goods or assets purchased for Amerindian villages. “For example, even though acquisitions were recorded in the Stock Ledger, no annotation was made when the items were transferred to the various Amerindian villages. A similar situation continued to exist in 2014,” the report said.
It noted that the ministry has said that corrective action is being taken to resolve these issues while the ministry is now in the process of filling all vacant positions and requesting additional staff where necessary.
