KUALA LUMPUR – Sixty-two recommendations have been submitted on the activities of ministries, federal departments and statutory bodies after the tabling of the much-delayed Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 2019 Series 2.
Seventeen performance audits on RM90.635 billion were also carried out involving programmes, activities and projects at 13 ministries.
Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid in a statement said the National Audit Department (NAD) conducted performance audits on 21 programmes, activities and projects involving 26 departments and 10 state government agencies, as well as 11 management audits of state government companies.
For that, he said, a total of 130 recommendations for improvement were submitted, of which 88 recommendations were for consideration for implementation by state departments and agencies, and 42 recommendations were aimed at state government companies.
He added that the audit found the implementation of government activities, projects and programmes had been done according to the set objectives.
However, he said, there were still issues of inefficiency and non-compliance, as well as weaknesses in the management of activities, projects and programmes, that affected efficiency and effectiveness to produce the expected outputs, results and impact.
On the management audits on seven federal government companies, Nik Azman said five were found to have achieved the objectives of their establishment, while the two others had yet to fully achieve their objectives.
“For good corporate governance practice, only one company was found to be at a good level, five companies were at a satisfactory level, and one company was still at an unsatisfactory level.
“For the financial status audit, five companies were stable, while the two others showed an unstable position.”
He said 41 recommendations were submitted to the management of the companies to be considered for implementation, to enable corrective actions to be taken.
LKAN 2019 Series 2 on the activities of ministries, and federal departments and bodies will be uploaded to NAD’s website after its tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.
At the state level, it can be uploaded to the NAD portal only after it is tabled in the respective state assembly sittings.
LKAN 2019 Series 2 was initially slated to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in March, but Parliament could not sit as scheduled then following the emergency proclamation on January 12.
Nik Azman said the performance audits were conducted in accordance with Section 6(d) of the Audit Act 1957 and guided by international auditing standards issued by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions.
He said the audit was to assess whether government activities, projects and programmes were implemented prudently, efficiently and effectively, as well as the extent to which their objectives were achieved.
“It also aimed to assess the extent to which public money was spent prudently, efficiently and effectively without waste and to get the best value for money.” – The Vibes, September 28, 2021
