The Ministry of Indige-nous Peoples’ Affairs has been unable to properly account for the $865.1 million reportedly spent under the Hinterland Employment and Youth Services (HEYS) programme and amounts totalling $210.3 million that were released for projects in over 200 Amerindian villages, the 2017 Auditor General’s Report has said.
According to the report, which was presented to the National Assembly earlier this month, the ministry provided little in the way of progress reports on how the money was spent.
The report stated that the sum of $865.111 million was spent to pay the HEYS stipend to 1,900 students for the period January to December, 2017; to pay 230 HEYS staff; to cover business grants to individuals/communities to set up small projects; for the purchase of equipment and items for training; the printing of training documents; the launching of HEYS Phase II; and to cover meals and accommodations and travelling for the execution of the training programme. “The Ministry did not present progress reports for these projects; therefore it could not be determined whether the funds were utilised for the intended purposes,” the report, however, said.
According to the breakdown, which was contained in the report, $576.052 million was spent on the HEYS Stipend; $81.814 million on HEYS Staff (facilitators); $81.350 million on business grant to start new initiatives; $44.262 million on items and equipment for training; $35.602 million on print and non-print; $18,540 million on phase 2 launching of the HEYS; $16.366 million on meals and accommodations; and $11.125 million on travelling.
Further, the report said that the sum of $210.331 million was spent to pay grants ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to 215 Amerindian villages to execute various projects.
It was observed that there was a duplication of payment in the sum of $800,000 to one of the villages, the report said, before adding that the ministry did not present progress reports for these projects and therefore it could not be determined whether the funds were utilised for the intended purposes.
In response, the ministry, while noting the findings of Auditor General Deodat Sharma, explained the after the $800,000 payment was processed twice, the second cheque was refunded to the Consolidated Fund.
The Audit Office recommended that the ministry put systems in place to ensure that all such progress reports are prepared and submitted at the completion of each project.
Village councils audited
Meanwhile, the Audit Office conducted audits of 32 Amerindian villages in February of 2018 and made several observations.
The report said that at the time of the audits, the works were in progress for eight Village Councils but for Karasabai Village Council the unspent balance of $568,660 was not presented as cash on hand during the cash survey process.
It was pointed out that 10 village councils executed projects according to plan while Kanapang and Kamarang Village Coun-cils uplifted their cheque from the Ministry but these were not accounted for in the records of the respective councils.
Further, the Audit Office observed that three of the councils did not uplift their cheques from the Ministry at the time of the audit.
The report said Tuseneng Village Council spent the full amount but at the time of the audit the project remained incomplete. Additionally, while the Annai Village Council uplifted its cheque, no works were started on the project and the cash was verified as being on hand.
It was noted that Great Falls and Wikki-Calcuni Village Councils received grants of $1 million each and while these amounts were deposited in the councils’ bank accounts, “no documentation nor the bank statements were presented for audit scrutiny.”
An audit also found that the sum of $1.3 million, which was provided for the construction of benabs and to improve the beach area for the Mainstay/Whyaka Village Council, was utilised to rehabilitate a fence instead.
Additionally, the Audit Office observed that grants for the Achiwib and Wiruni Village Councils were refunded to the Ministry and no amount was allotted to Chinese Landing Village Council.
The ministry, in its response, took note of the findings and explained that based on the geographic locations of these villages and the limited human and financial resources, it was “unable to conduct adequate monitoring within the fiscal year.”
Further, the ministry said that it will improve its monitoring with the addition of 10 Community Development Officers (CDOs), paying more emphasis on Village Councils that have accountability history.
It was recommended that the ministry monitor the village councils to ensure proper accountability of funds received.
