THE Department of Finance is aware of and taking corrective measures to address governance issues raised by the Auditor General’s Office in an audit report on the work of the Government Office Allocation & Development Division (GOADD), says Finance Secretary Samuel Penias.
He said the work of GOADD, which involved the administration of government departments’ and agencies’ office accommodations, was crucial to ensuring smooth functioning of government affairs, and any shortcomings identified needed to be addressed and corrected as a matter of priority.
“My department appreciates the role of the Auditor General’s Office in conducting audit across all government entities in identifying weaknesses and as such am fully aware of issues raised regarding GOADD and its operations in the November, 2024 report which covered the years 2020 to 2023,” Mr Penias said.
“As a matter of procedure, we have taken steps to address those issues and are in total agreement with the AG on almost all of the 10 recommendations made in the report.”
“We do so because the department is keen on ensuring that this function of government is made as effective as possible to improve on and avoid the sticky point of unpaid rental charges that continue to pop up every now and then and affecting smooth operation of government.
“I need to add at this juncture that whilst operational and administrative aspects are being addressed and improved on, the issue of adequate budgetary funding to offset the high rental charges have and will continue to beset us.”
Mr Penias said this in response to a newspaper story of January 06 which attempted to cover the AG’s 30-page report but failed to capture its full essence.
“The report which contained findings of the AG as well as recommendations and responses from the Department
of Finance was presented to the Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat,” Mr Penias said.
“The newspaper story did injustice to the report and to the Department of Finance by failing to mention key points, including funding problems and recommendations and our response as to how best to address shortcomings.
“This serious error of omission and selective unbalanced reporting has portrayed the Department and GOADD in bad light and needs to be corrected.
“I reiterate that funding has been and will continue to be a challenge for government because annual budgetary allocations fall short of the required amount to fully pay off rental charges which has resulted in some landlords taking the drastic measure of locking government workers out of office in recent years.
This aspect was covered in detail in the report but conveniently left out in the news report.
“We are very much conscious of these ongoing issues are committed to doing our utmost best to addressing them to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
“GOADD is the administrative division within the Department of Finance which implements decisions of and reports to the Government Office Allocations Committee which comprises the heads of the departments of Finance as chair, Personnel Management, Treasury, Lands and Physical Planning, Justice and Attorney-General and Works and Highways as members.
“This is a high-level inter-agency committee that meets to make government office purchases/rentals, allocation and administration decision.
“In view of this, any successes, failings or shortcomings are matters for the committee to note and address, and not solely for the Department of Finance to take credit or blame.”