Chair Esrom Immanuel & the Standing Committee on Public Accounts [Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji]

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has raised concerns about the lack of qualified finance personnel in Provincial Council offices across the country.

Chair Esrom Immanuel highlighted the issue during a public consultation in Labasa, which focused on the Macuata Provincial Council audit report covering the years 2011 to 2018.

He noted that the absence of trained finance staff has resulted in poorly prepared financial reports, raising questions about transparency and accountability within the provincial councils over the years.

“From 2011 to 2018, all are qualified, not only qualified, but they’ve got the worst level of qualification that is given to those who have audited accounts. So, it’s not only for Macuata province, but also for the other provinces. And we’ve already had a meeting with the iTaukei Affairs Board, which is the responsible authority for the financial council for provincial councils.”

While presenting before the committee, Roko Tui Macuata Kalivati Rabuka stated that none of the provincial councils were aware of the figures written off between 2011 and 2018.

“From the Macuata provincial council, we are saying that in 2011 and 2018, the unsubstantiated balance has been written off. In 2019 and 2022, the government established a task force to update the backlog. And this has been completed by the team. And that financial statement has been submitted to the office of the attorney general.”

Public Accounts Committee member Alvick Maharaj echoed the concern, pointing out that the lack of awareness regarding written-off amounts was a recurring issue across all provincial councils.

“And how did ITEP put a recommendation to the Ministry of Finance for this amount to be written off? What was the process that was followed? Because the information that we have gathered is that this amount has accumulated to millions of dollars, if not in thousands, it has to be part of millions.”

In response, the committee chair emphasized that the iTaukei Affairs Board must develop appropriate solutions and provide training for finance officers in provincial councils to improve record-keeping and ensure timely and accurate financial reporting.

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