The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs says they have now secured funding in the current financial year to address staffing challenges.

Head of Finance and Account Unit Finau Niumatawalu highlighted this while submitting a review of the 2020 & 2021 & 2022 Audit Reports.

While making submissions, Niumatawalu stressed on the challenges faced in managing its financial and accounting responsibilities due to staff shortages and delays in recruitment.

She says the persistent issues of staff turnover and limited budget allocations affected their performance.

Niumatawalu says many experienced staff members had left for career advancement opportunities, resulting in a high number of acting positions and additional responsibilities being placed on the remaining staff.

“However, the only way around to address staffing issues is to create positions, which we have now been given the budget for this financial year and the dedicated officer was it was an added responsibility to some of the existing staff and we ensure that you know, we get a weekly report from them on how they have conducted their checks and we ensure that we do not miss out on any of these source documents.”

Niumatawalu assures the committee members that this has also led to improvement in some areas.