Cooking the books: For 10 years no one has checked local government accounts, notes watchdog

PAC recomm­ends that the power to audit should be given to provin­cial govt.

KARACHI:

Ever since the local government system was put into place 10 years ago, there hasn’t been a single discussion on how they have audited their books. Small wonder then that the books have been cooked and billions of rupees are unaccounted for.

“We have no idea how district governments have used their funds and what kind of irregularities have been found in them,” said Jam Tamachi Unar, who is heading the Public Accounts Committee. “We have been kept in dark on the issue.” The committee is the accounts watchdog for the Sindh government and has been going through the books for all departments for the years 2006 to 2009.

On Thursday, it went through the accounts of the local government department. At the end of the day, the PAC recommended that the power to audit should be taken away from district governments and given to the provincial government. MPAs are likely to adopt a resolution on this at the next assembly session.

Under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO) all district governments were responsible for initiating an audit of their funds. But nothing has been done since the system was introduced.

“Millions of rupees embezzled by officials in different departments were recovered by the PAC,” said Unar. “Therefore, it should be given the power to audit district governments in order to investigate how the money was used and who is involved.” The devolution system had given the grass roots level more powers, but it lacked accountability and responsibility.

Sindh had provided funds to the district and Town Municipal Administrations and thus it was its responsibility to hold them answerable. In response, the secretary for the Sindh Assembly, Hadi Bux Buriro, pointed out that there was no law that said that the Sindh government could not initiate the audit. “The SLGO has expired and the government can initiate the audit now,” he said.

In 2007, the SLGO was amended so that all district coordination officers were supposed to submit audit report of their areas to the PAC. Audit Director-General Najmul Saqib Siddiqi told The Express Tribune that neither of these officials had given their reports and the PAC had not bothered to ask either.

An official privy to the meeting told The Express Tribune that irregularities of more than three trillion rupees were found in the countrywide audits of district governments from 2001. Sindh topped the list. “The Auditor General of Pakistan had sent the report to the chief minister. But the findings are not made public apparently due to the reconciliation policy,” he said.

Earlier, the meeting settled almost all the audit paras and there was a smile on the faces of officials who had brought in bundles of vouchers and receipts along with audit papers. “We know very well that any one can arrange for 1947 vouchers, but we require proper justification for the funds used,” a member of PAC said.

It was pointed out to the secretary of Local Government, Ali Ahmed Lund, that no one could build a mosque or hoist an alam (flag) without the government’s approval. Unar asked officials to present a list of occupied plots in each Town Municipal Administration. “You people should also mark the buildings and plots that you own,” he said.

The secretary replied that an anti-encroachment cell was working under the Board of Revenue. “Sometimes it is difficult for us to take action due to political pressure,” he said.

The DG Audit brought up Rs3,645 million in unpaid bills for the Hawksbay Scheme 42, which comes under the Lyari Development Authority. Only Rs23 million has been recovered up to June 2008. Officials said that they had recovered the entire amount, but did not show a proper record. The para was deferred.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2011.