KUALA LUMPUR: Non-compliance with financial management resulted in issues of irregular payments amounting to RM1.299 billion, loss of public funds of RM11.45 million and a waste of RM8.87 million to the government in 2020.
Auditor-General Datuk Seri Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said that last year, the National Audit Department (NAD) conducted compliance audits of five federal agencies and submitted 19 recommendations for consideration for implementation.
“As of Dec 31, 2021, a total of 140 financial statements had been audited and awarded the Auditor-General’s Certificate, while seven financial statements were in the process of being audited.
“A total of 109 financial statements were awarded the Clean Audit Certificate, 14 were awarded the Audit Certificate Based on Emphasis of Matter, and 17 were given the Audit Certificate with Reprimand,” he said in a statement on the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) here on Tuesday (March 22).
The report was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday involving LKAN 2020 Series 1 on activities of ministries, federal departments and statutory bodies, financial statements and compliance audits of federal agencies for the year 2020.
Apart from that, the report also involved the management of federal government-owned companies and 13 state-level LKAN 2020 Series 1 involving activities of ministry, agencies and management of state-owned companies.
Nik Azman said performance audits of government activities were conducted in accordance with Section 6(d) of the Audit Act 1957 and international auditing standards issued by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
He said the performance audit was conducted to assess the achievement of the objectives of government activities, projects and programmes, as well as whether the implementation was done prudently, efficiently and effectively.
“It also aims to assess the extent to which public money is spent prudently, efficiently and effectively without waste and get the best value for money,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 10 performance audits worth RM39.719 billion were conducted for eight departments, three government-owned companies and four federal statutory bodies and agencies under seven ministries.
Nik Azman said of the total, six audits involved categories of programmes and activities, three categories of projects and one involved information and communications technology systems.
“Overall, the implementation of the federal government’s activities, projects and programmes were carried out in accordance with the set objectives.
“However, there were still weaknesses such as output targets and the achievement of set results cannot be achieved or cannot be evaluated. This is because quantitative targets, mechanisms and indicators were not set, and the relevant data was not well maintained and updated,” he said.
Nik Azman said a total of 33 recommendations were given for consideration by the audited ministries, departments and agencies.
The NAD also carried out performance audits of 18 programmes, activities and projects involving two ministries in Sabah dan Sarawak, 15 departments and 12 state government agencies, as well as an audit of the management of 11 state-owned companies.
A total of 111 recommendations were given, 70 of which were given for consideration by the state ministries, departments and agencies, and 41 were for the relevant state government-owned companies, he said.
Nik Azman said the LKAN on Management of Federal Government Companies 2020 Series 1 contained the findings of audits done for six federal government companies.
“Overall, four companies have achieved the objectives of establishment; two companies demonstrated a high level of good corporate governance practices; and three companies had a stable financial position,” he said.
He said a total of 31 recommendations had been given to the management of the companies for improvements.
The LKAN on the activities of ministries, federal government departments and federal statutory bodies, as well as on financial statements and auditing of federal agency compliance, as well as LKAN 2020 Series 1 on the management of federal government companies will be uploaded on the NAD’s website, http://www.audit.gov.my, after the tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.
At the state level, it will be uploaded to the NAD’s website after it is tabled at the respective State Legislative Assembly sittings.
Issues of LKAN 2020 Series 1 will also be uploaded to the Auditor-General’s Dashboard (AGD) portal from 10.30am and further enquiries or feedback can be emailed to [email protected]. -BERNAMA
