Parliamentary Committee probes Govt Garage mess

ACCOUNTING officials of the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, were yesterday hauled before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts to explain the dire state of affairs at the Government Garage.

The Auditor Generals reports for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 financial years indicate that no financial statements were submitted for this division during the years under review. The testimony of accounting officials revealed that it is still not possible to produce financial documents for this division because no accounting system exists.According to the Auditor General’s report, the Government Garage had a credit balance of more than N$80 million, but Financial Advisor for Transport and Communications, Issabella Kangueehi, said this was due to inaccurate accounting and that in fact the garage was running at a loss.The Works Ministry’s Deputy Director of Finance Rosalia Tjaveondja told the committee that the division’s operations were being reviewed because at present it “can’t sustain itself.”She reminded the committee that the division did not receive an operational budget from Government and its operations, including paying its staff, had to be funded from own income.But, she said, the rates being charged and the old fleet that it had to maintain made the division unprofitable.Tjaveondja said personnel costs were high because of the amount of overtime that had to be worked to fix cars as soon as they left the city.She said discussions were underway to pay Garage staff from the budget of the Transport Division.From the audits it also emerged that the Central Government Stores did not have an accounting system in place which could produce financial statements.Tjaveondja said this was because there were no clear guidelines from the Ministry of Finance or the Auditor General’s office as to how to operate the account.Improved accounting system for the stores would be in place before the end of the month, Tjaveondja said, while the implementation of one for the Government Garage was also being worked on.The committee further highlighted the unauthorised over-expenditure of the Department of Transport by more than N$22 million in 2000 and another N$16,8 million in 2001.The Department of Works exceeded its budget by more than N$10 million in 2000 and by N$8,2 million the following year.Ministry officials did little to explain why they overshot their budgets during the years under review.Instead attempted to convince the committee that the situation had improved greatly since then.They blamed their poor accounting controls on unqualified staff, but Swapo MP Elia Kaiyamo said this was an unacceptable explanation and that department heads should ensure that employees were properly trained and doing their work efficiently.Tjaveondja said at present all divisions were expected to compile a monthly report of their expenditure to determine whether they were working within their allocated budgets.The testimony of accounting officials revealed that it is still not possible to produce financial documents for this division because no accounting system exists.According to the Auditor General’s report, the Government Garage had a credit balance of more than N$80 million, but Financial Advisor for Transport and Communications, Issabella Kangueehi, said this was due to inaccurate accounting and that in fact the garage was running at a loss.The Works Ministry’s Deputy Director of Finance Rosalia Tjaveondja told the committee that the division’s operations were being reviewed because at present it “can’t sustain itself.”She reminded the committee that the division did not receive an operational budget from Government and its operations, including paying its staff, had to be funded from own income.But, she said, the rates being charged and the old fleet that it had to maintain made the division unprofitable.Tjaveondja said personnel costs were high because of the amount of overtime that had to be worked to fix cars as soon as they left the city.She said discussions were underway to pay Garage staff from the budget of the Transport Division.From the audits it also emerged that the Central Government Stores did not have an accounting system in place which could produce financial statements.Tjaveondja said this was because there were no clear guidelines from the Ministry of Finance or the Auditor General’s office as to how to operate the account.Improved accounting system for the stores would be in place before the end of the month, Tjaveondja said, while the implementation of one for the Government Garage was also being worked on.The committee further highlighted the unauthorised over-expenditure of the Department of Transport by more than N$22 million in 2000 and another N$16,8 million in 2001.The Department of Works exceeded its budget by more than N$10 million in 2000 and by N$8,2 million the following year.Ministry officials did little to explain why they overshot their budgets during the years under review.Instead attempted to convince the committee that the situation had improved greatly since then.They blamed their poor accounting controls on unqualified staff, but Swapo MP Elia Kaiyamo said this was an unacceptable explanation and that department heads should ensure that employees were properly trained and doing their work efficiently.Tjaveondja said at present all divisions were expected to compile a monthly report of their expenditure to determine whether they were working within their allocated budgets.