TPDCO rushing to submit outstanding annual reports
THE Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCO) has resumed submitting annual reports up to 2017/19, and has already produced the first draft of the latest report which covers its performance in the 2020/21 fiscal year.
This was established on Tuesday when representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and the TPDCO informed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives of efforts which have led to the resumption of tabling of its first annual report since its 2015/16 report, which was tabled in 2019.
“TPDCO acknowledges that there were in fact some areas of weaknesses, despite the fact that overall they carried out the mandate well. We did not, and we agreed with the auditor general that there are some areas of weakness, and since that time TPDCO has been trying to improve their systems and since the report they have taken it even further,” Jennifer Griffith, permanent secretary in the tourism ministry, told the PAC.
“They have made significant improvements, and we are satisfied that, at the end of the period indicated, they will be fully compliant with respect to their annual report requirements,” added Griffith as she appeared before the committee chaired by Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson.
Auditor General (AUG) Pamela Monroe Ellis said that the performance audit done by her department had sought to assess the adequacy of the company’s internal control and contract management, for the tourism projects under its purview over the review period.
She said that while TPDCO was reporting on its performance internally to senior management and its board, as well as externally through the annual reports, it was inconsistent with the preparation of its annual reports in a timely manner.
“We were satisfied with the governance structure in place at TPDCO; however, we noted that there was room for improvement in the human resources activities and performance reporting, more from the backdrop of the need to have feasibility studies done for the projects, as well as an indication as to how the projects are actually selected for implementation,” Monroe Ellis said.
She added that of five broad issues raised by her performance audit, three were addressed to her department’s satisfaction. In terms of the others, she pointed out that TPDCO had undertaken to address them.
“We have stated that we will keep it in view, because we would need to do an assessment at a later date, to determine the effectiveness of the measures taken by TPDCO,” Monroe Ellis told the committee.
Griffith saw no problem resetting those standards, as she felt that TPDCO was well structured, in terms of its departments, internal auditors and its technical team.
The responses produced on Tuesday by the TPDCO showed that it had submitted two annual reports to the Office of the Cabinet, and is on target to submit all outstanding reports before the end of the current calendar year.
She said that since publishing a report in 2015/16 as late as September 2019, there had been no other reporting by the company on its activities via the annual report. However, she explained that TPDCO has submitted to the Ministry of Tourism reports up to the 2017/18 financial year, which were submitted to Cabinet and are to be tabled in Parliament.
In terms of the 2018/19 report, TPDCO said that it was currently being printed. The 2019/20 report is undergoing final internal review to be submitted to Cabinet, then tabled in Parliament, while the 2020/21 report is currently in its first draft.
The TPDCO is the central agency mandated by the Government to facilitate the maintenance, development and enhancement of the tourism product