SODELPA MP Aseri Radrodro has raised concerns about the number of State-Owned Entities that the Auditor General previously used to audit that are now opting to be audited by private firms and reports not coming to parliament, however Acting Minister for Economy Faiyaz Koya says they are professional auditors and there are no favours.
Radrodro highlighted this while debating on the Examination of Audit Report on State-Owned Entities and Statutory Authorities for 2015. He says this is very concerning.
Radrodro says those practices eliminate the opportunities for parliament to scrutinize the manner in which these entities have utilized taxpayers' money.
He says it would have been forgiven if these entities are funded entirely by its resources, but it is still funded through government grants and there is no exception for this.
While responding to Radrodro, Acting Minister for Economy Faiyaz Koya says all these entities are subjected to the same level of scrutiny as they are audited by chartered accountants.
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Alvick Maharaj says the report was for 2015 and the issues discussed may not be current but these issues identified in the report may either be resolved or are in the process of being addressed. Iva. D
