It will soon be more difficult to get away with stealing money and materials from Government.
The Mia Mottley Administration is seeking to strengthen the powers of the Auditor General by enabling that officer to report any suspicious transactions directly to the police, and for fines and/or imprisonment for those who ignore summons to attend their investigative hearings.
The new thrust will also see tougher financial checks being done within ministries and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with the introduction of an Internal Audit Office – which will be responsible, generally, for conducting audits of all public entities.
These are just two of the provisions of the new Public Finance Management Act 2018, which is before a joint select committee of Parliament for review. Two meetings of that committee were held last week in the Senate chambers, with another scheduled for tomorrow. The bill was laid in the House of Assembly last December 18. (SP)
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