Auditor General finds 400 shortfalls in 2016-17 report [1]
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 22:13. Updated on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 - 06:40.
From the House by Pesi Fonua
The government is using a cash accounting system - a practice that they have been trying to change during the past 10 years, the Minister of Finance and a former Auditor General, Hon. Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa told parliament last week.
Debate on the 2016-17 Annual Report of the Auditor General was deferred by the Speaker, Lord Fakafanua on 26 September to the Whole House Committee.
On the following day, 27 September Lord Tu’ilakepa moved, supported by Siaosi Sovaleni, Lord Nuku, Lord Tu’iha’angana, and Lord Tu‘i‘afitu, for the report to be tabled into the Standing Finance Committee.
The motion was opposed by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and their supporters.
Siaosi Sovaleni pleaded for the report to be tabled into the Finance Committee, where experts could be called in to clarify issues in the report.
However, the report was lowered to the Whole House Committee and the Speaker told members that staff of the Attorney General were in the House to answer any questions.
Members wanted Cabinet Ministers to clarify about 400 shortfalls and more than two thousand recommendations that were spelled out in the report.
The Minister of Finance Hon. Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa told the committee that the problem was the ‘sisi tamu’ (dumb system) that they had been using, because Ministries did not provide financial statements; they could only provide assets and liabilities.
400 shortfalls
The main concern of the Auditor General in his report was that government is not able to collect the revenue.
However, amidst of the House trying to cope with the disastrous accounting report of the Auditor General the PM offered that they (government) would try to solve the problem; but for the meantime they will try to get back the $90m [the Chinese grant that government transferred to TONGASAT] and unpaid tax.
Then, out of the blue, the PM told the House that he would give an answer to a question - before anybody had asked.
He was referring to a report in the Auditor’s Report relating to a fully furnished house where he lived in Fasi before he moved to a bigger house near Queen Salote College. [The issue was that the PM’s own house went up on fire and he had to find a house to live.]
Lord Tu‘i‘afitu told the House that funds from the National Emergency Fund was used to build the residence of the PM.
Hon. Mateni, the Minister of Police corrected Lotd Tu‘i‘afitu that a new house was not built, but a government quarter was renovated.
The House got into screaming exchange between members over how the National Emergency Fund was used.
To calm things down, the Speaker called for the House to close until Monday 1 October.