JEDDAH: The General Auditing Bureau (GAB) has accused some government departments of excess spending, delaying vital projects and negligence in collecting public revenues. It also pointed out that some state-owned companies were making big losses.
Speaking at a reception at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Osama Faqeeh, chairman of the bureau, told Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that some government departments were not cooperating with GAB, despite the king’s instructions.
He commended King Abdullah for instructing all government departments to implement the proposals made by GAB in its annual report for 2006. “This reflects your determination to carry on reforms in all areas with the objective of improving performance of government departments, increasing their effectiveness and deepening the values of trust, fairness and sincerity at work,” he said.
Faqeeh also praised the king for his efforts to fight all forms of corruption and punish negligent government officials. He said the bureau has been doing its duty with objectivity and without any bias in order to translate the government’s financial and administrative reforms into realistic working programs.
“We have started implementing the second strategic plan this year, coping with speedy developments in financial auditing and performance monitoring,” Faqeeh said. “We aim to achieve better use of public money, following economic methods and to ensure a balanced development of the Kingdom.”
He said GAB’s annual report for 2008 included results of auditing financial statements and budgets of government departments. “It also contains financial and other violations, the main reasons for them and how to tackle them as well as the major obstacles facing the bureau in doing its duty in a professional and independent manner.”
The GAB chief spelled out seven major violations: excess payment without bills; noncooperation of government departments in stopping violations; delay in implementing vital projects and low quality of project implementation due to dearth of supervision; lack of internal monitoring regimes; negligence in collecting public funds at the appointed time; noncompliance of departments with financial rules and instructions; weak performance of some state-funded companies, incurring continuous heavy losses.
Faqeeh urged all ministries and government departments to follow budget regulations and strictly apply the measures to collect public funds. He also reminded them of the Cabinet decision to set up internal auditing units in every government department.
“We have to deepen the principles of transparency and frankness and tackle the areas of weakness in time in order to achieve an efficient and high quality government management,” Faqeeh said.
He requested the government to continue its support to GAB in order to carry out its mission effectively and objectively. Faqeeh presented copies of the annual report to King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan in separate meetings. The king and crown prince commended the bureau’s efforts in the service of the Kingdom and wished it success in its mission.
