 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
With ministries under heavy pressure to stop wasting taxpayer’s money and restore financial discipline, the Health Care and Nutrition Ministry has been censured by Auditor General S. Swarnajothi in his 2007 annual report to Parliament.
The AG has also faulted the ministry for underutilization of foreign aid which he estimated at 75 per cent and 73 per cent in two consecutive years and mismanagement of ten foreign funded projects.
The AG said that despite an increase in financial allocation for health and a resultant significant improvement in health care during the 2005-2007 period, the ministry had failed to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities.
Among a series of irregularities was the failure of officers responsible for ten foreign funded projects implemented by Nimal Siripala de Silva’s ministry to submit financial statements as requested by donor agencies. Authoritative sources said that this had prevented the donors and the AG’s Department from knowing the actual amount spent on these heavily funded projects.
These projects had been also badly affected by the absence of effective internal audit, recruitment of staff outside the approved limit, non-rendition of documents in support of payments, non-recovery of specified taxes and fraudulent payments.
The Medical Supplies Division has been harshly criticised for poor management of its operations. "Medical supplies are not made efficiently and effectively despite the heavy public expenditure, due to the delay in the introduction of a drugs policy, lack of a procurement plan and a procurement time table for last year," the AG said.
A large scale cash fraud amounting to Rs 1,857,469 committed between January 1, 2007 to August 15, 2007 hadn’t been detected due weaknesses in internal controls.
The AG also revealed that there had been overpayments amounting to Rs 47,508,520 relating to constructions, consultancy services, salaries, overtime and a range of other allowances, meals, security and cleaning services and shortages and losses amounting to Rs 62,830,940. The ministry was also faulted for not being able to justify payments amounting to Rs 33,234,035.
The State Pharmaceutical Corporation had failed to recover the value of substandard medicine, short supplies of stocks, additional costs paid to SLPR amounting to Rs 829,279,907 from suppliers of drugs despite their being issued with debit notes. Of the debit notes issued in both Sri Lankan rupees and foreign currency between 2000 and 2008, 256 hadn’t been settled. The AG said that full amounts had been paid to suppliers without holding back a part of the payment.
