-Palms among pilot projects
Auditor General (Ag) Deodat Sharma says Value for Money (VFM) audits are to become routine, scrutinizing from ministries to road projects as the annual financial reviews from his office shifts focus to include how effectively public funds are being utilized.
He said that Guyana is heading in the direction of performance audits that examine how wisely money is spent, in keeping with the Audit Act, which consents to VFM audits here.
Sharma projected that VFM audits could be incorporated into the system as early as next year, noting that there is a critical need for the inclusion of such reports locally. He underscored that the international community is increasingly calling for VFM audits as a condition to disbursing grants. “The key focus of VFM audits are on economy, efficiency and effectiveness, which means that we must pay keen attention to how funds are being used and to ascertain whether people are benefiting,” Sharma stated.
Sharma stated that his office is likely to release VFM audits, in addition to the regular financial reports, “in the near future.”
Two VFM audits are currently being conducted within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which he said were chosen as pilot projects. A study is near completion at the Palms Geriatric Home and another is expected to begin shortly on pension funds.
The Inter-American Deve-lopment Bank (IBD) is funding the two VFM audits in addition to three others which are to be completed by August 2010, as part of an initiative to strengthen the institutional capacity of the local audit office.
While the Auditor General declined to disclose what the remaining three VFM audits would focus on, he stated that any area is open to scrutiny. He declined to comment on reports that one of the VFM audits is likely to include a study of the Tender Board.
The study at the Palms focused on the health and well-being of patients, management, working environment, and food among other areas. Sharma noted that the result of the study is to be discussed with management at the Palms before the report is submitted in Parliament. “…The Public Accounts Committee of Guyana would soon have its first VFM audit to look at soon,” Sharma added.
According to him, Guyana has a twinning arrangement with the Audit Office of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada that allows officers here to observe first-hand how the VFM audits are conducted overseas, as well as provide a basis for collaboration between the two countries.
He said that Auditor General at Newfoundland, John Noseworthy, was in Guyana two weeks earlier to follow up on the work being conducted locally. Specifi-cally, his office was interested on the reporting stage of the projects to identify any weakness.
Sharma disclosed that Noseworthy made several recommendations, which the office is acting on and has since made changes.
Sharma added that the local audit office here benefited from training by the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation (CCAF), which he said, resulted in a local VFM manual being drawn up.
Currently the focus of the VFM audits is on the planning stages, as well as the methodology and the reporting stage. He added that it is important for the audit office to sustain VFM audits, as the intended objective is to conduct them regularly.
