Filenews 29 July 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
Serious audit deficits of the financial statements kept by the Local Government Authorities are noted by the Auditor General in response to a relevant question we have asked him about the delays in the audit of Municipalities and Community Councils. This is what AKEL's Pafos MP, Velentinos Fakontis, said in a statement.
The issue of delays arose after my visits to municipalities and communities of the Pafos district, he stressed, during which the issue of delay in the financial audit by the Audit Office was raised many times. In many cases it has been found that control has been non-existent for many years.
"In this light, I have contacted the Office of the Auditor General on July 7, 2022 and requested an update on the regime governing the audit of financial statements in local government authorities," the AKEL MP points out. "In his letter dated 26/7/2022, the Auditor General makes very specific findings concerning on the one hand the understaffing of his own service and on the other hand the inability of municipalities and community councils to respond.
Among other things, the Auditor General cites characteristic data on the extent of the problem in municipalities and community councils, such as the non-staffing with trained officers, the absence of internal audit, the observance of a dubious reliability of financial statements and the failure to provide the necessary information to private auditors to carry out a comprehensive audit."
The decision to assign the audit to private auditors, under the supervision of the Audit Office, did not work as expected since the signing of relevant contracts is delayed, emphasizes Mr. Fakontis.
The lack of control in the past has led to holes that have dragged various local authorities to the bottom of the economy, he argues. Also, fragmented or incomplete control does not prevent financial irregularities or phenomena that may be related to abuses.
"Effective auditing of the financial statements of each public body is an integral part of transparency, good administration and democracy," it says. "At the same time, impartiality, accountability and accountability are actions that contribute and strengthen the trust of citizens in the system, defining the balance between the administration and the governed.
It is obvious that the financial control of the Local Government Authorities is sick and there are long delays. We will continue to monitor the issue closely, with the aim of taking steps by the relevant ministries to resolve the problem."
The matter, concludes Valentinos Fakontis in his speech, has already been notified to the Parliamentary Audit Committee, which will examine it in the context of an ex officio debate on the auditor general's annual report for the year 2020.
