Over Lm1.7m in unallocated stores

by David Kelleher

Three government departments failed to give any reason to the National Audit Office for over Lm1.7m in unallocated stores in 1998, according to the Auditor General's report.

Presented to the House last week, the report found that the Ministry of Works and Construction held Lm1.6m in allocated stores. The NAO was also concerned that this figure reflected the last return of actual stockholding in May 1992 covering the year ending 1991.

The department of contracts reported a discrepancy of Lm48,115 between the book balance and the actual stock on hand, thus increasing the discrepancy by Lm6,684 over 1997.

The government printing press carried out a full-scale exercise and established discrepancies amounting to Lm87,107. None of the departments was able to explain the discrepancies.

In his report, the Auditor General gave nine possible reasons for the findings:

receipts from sales not credited to the respective Suspense Account;

funds voted to cover unallocated stores purchases expended on unrelated procurements;

unaccounted for wastage (normal or otherwise, including pilferage);

uncollected arrears;

stores written-off without crediting the account with the cost of the "deficient stores";

arrears written off without providing the Suspense Account with an equivalent amount;

non issue of claims for jobs carried out or stores issued on credit;

claims undercharged;

tale quale sales, in the case of the Department of Contracts (central supplies stores), to third parties being effected at prices which are substantially less than their book value.

In its 1997 report, the NAO had recommended the setting up of a board to assess the real value of the discrepancies reporter, determine the reasons, ensure the debtors are chased and arrears can still be collected, and analyse the five accounts held by the Ministry of Public Works and Construction.

Although endorsed by the Public Accounts Committee, as of 1 September 1999, the report said, no reply was received from the ministry whether the board was appointed.