298 suggestions in A-G’s report

83 recommendations given to federal bodies, 173 to state agencies

KUALA LUMPUR: The AuditorGeneral’s Report 2017 Series 2 tabled in Parliament yesterday contained 298 recommendations aimed at improving weaknesses in the public sector.

Auditor-General Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad said 83 of the recommendations were related to activities carried out by federal ministries, departments and statutory bodies.

Another 42 were related to the management of federal government companies and agencies, while a further 173 were related to management activities by ministries, departments, agencies and management of state government companies.

She said 16 performance audits and eight government company management audits were carried out at the federal government level.

“At state level, 25 performance audits and 13 management audits

were carried out on government companies.

“The audit covered various fields including the management of programmes/activities, construction, procurement, systems/ICT, maintenance and revenue management,” she said in a statement.

Madinah said based on the financial management performance report of 19 federal departments, two departments achieved excellent levels, good (10), satisfactory (five) and unsatisfactory (two).

Audits carried out on the financial management performance of 14 State Royal Malaysian Customs Departments showed three departments achieved excellent levels, good (seven) and satisfactory (four), while the financial management performance of Universiti Teknologi Mara campuses in 13 states showed three achieved excellent levels, good (seven), satisfactory (two) and less satisfactory (one).

“Based on audits of 303 financial statements of state governments and state government agencies in 2017, 240 financial statements were given the Audit Certificate Without Reprimand, Audit Certificate Without Reprimand with Emphasis of Matter (35) and the Audit Certificate With Reprimand (28).

“A total of 16 financial statements are still being audited due to delays in submissions of the financial statements and supporting documents, while the remaining six financial statements have yet to be submitted to the auditors for auditing purposes,” she said.

According to Madinah, the performance audits were conducted in accordance with international auditing standards – namely the International Standard of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 3000, 3100 and 3200.

She said beginning with the 2017 Series 2 report, the National Audit Department improved their performance audit approach by emphasising output and outcome evaluation as well as the effectiveness of service delivery as well as the level of satisfaction of target groups on government programmes.

The report can be accessed through the National Audit Department website at http://www.audit. gov.my. — Bernama

At state level, 25 performance audits and 13 management audits were carried out on government companies. Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad