Audit errors prove what he said about critics: PAC chair
Ashneel Sudhakar says the AuditorGeneral’s admission of errors in the 2016 Report supported what he said earlier about certain media reports.
The chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee mentioned particularly the Fiji
Times and certain political parties for not being able “to hold their horses.”
Mr Sudhakar said the Auditor-General, Ajay Nand’s admission that there were anomalies and errors proved exactly what he had been saying.
“What I have been saying all this while is that these media organisations and the political parties need to let the PAC complete its work comprehensively and objectively scrutinising the Auditor-General’s Reports before jumping to conclusions and before criticising Government accounts,” Mr Sudhakar said. “They all have the freedom to do that once full and complete facts are before the public.” He said this was the whole basis of his press conference earlier.
Mr Sudhakar said after his earlier press conference the Fiji Times went at length in soliciting negative comments from many political parties on his statements in order to justify their reporting.
He said the Auditor-General had admitted the errors and apologised to the nation. The Fiji Times had no ground to stand on, he added. “The Auditor-General’s retraction and apology has knocked the wind out of the sails of Fiji Times and this group of political parties who had jumped the gun and put the cart before the horse.” However, the Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley says that it is unfortunate that Mr Sudhkar has opted to once again attack the Fiji Times. Mr Wesley said that as an independent news media organisation, the Fiji Times does not make news decisions based on what puts anybody in a good or bad light. “We report the facts as and when we find them. This includes the reports of public officials such as the Auditor-General,” Mr Wesley said. “Our reputation rests on independent and objective news reporting. We have no plans to change this.”