Saturday, July 12, 2008 Cebu City corrected only 2 of 8 lapses listed in ‘06 audit By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Cebu City Government has fully implemented only two of eight recommendations the Commission on Audit (COA) made after inspecting City Hall’s 2006 finances and transactions.
The City “partially complied” with four, but failed to obey two other recommendations.
The COA, in a recent annual audit report, said the City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) still failed to furnish the City Accounting Department with details of expenses.
State auditors last year discovered that P493.774 million worth of completed projects were still reflected as part of the Construction in Progress (CIP).
City Accounting Office officer-in-charge Marietta Gumia, though, has already conducted follow-ups with the DEPW for the information.
In calling the City’s attention, the COA suggested that the South Road Properties (SRP) monitoring office should coordinate with the accounting office to come up with the correct list of expenses in the SRP project.
The accounting office should then transfer all complete projects to the public infrastructure accounts instead of the CIP-agency assets.
The COA also said the City failed to institute proper monitoring on donations made, specifically to the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, “as evidenced by the continued grant of financial assistance even if the previous ones are not yet liquidated.”
The City, the COA also said, made no action to get a refund from the supplier of fiberglass beds worth P1.62 million, even though the delivered items did not meet the specifications in the purchase order.
It added that the 36 beds should be immediately utilized for the community scouts, Cremdec, city condominium and the rehabilitation center for minors before they get dilapidated.
On the other hand, the COA said the City has complied with its recommendation to investigate the loss of important documents on 12 missing transfer certificates of titles of lots.
It was to determine the liabilities of the concerned personnel so administrative sanctions could be imposed.
Proper turnover of accountabilities from the outgoing to the incoming liable officer should also be strictly instituted to avoid any loss of government property.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez has already directed the City Attorney’s Office to look into the matter, and no clearance certificate has been issued to the former General Services Office property management division chief, who has since retired.
The COA was likewise satisfied with the regular maintenance program pursued for the weighbridge at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.
It called the City Hall’s attention last year after the bridge functioned for only 17 months despite over P654,000 spent for repairs.
Meanwhile, these are the partially implemented recommendations:
* the construction of the Carbon Public Market ramp project awarded in 2004, which started only recently. The practice of granting cash advances to winning bidders, though, was already stopped;
* proper judgment in the procurement of construction materials, after state auditors discovered that cement bags that were the subject of a 2006 audit had already hardened;
* proper reporting on the newly purchased reconditioned water tanker that stopped functioning over a year after its requisition. The vehicle was still reported as having no defects;
* granting of representation and transportation allowances to casual employees designated as assistant department heads or department heads. The COA said refund was still not made. (RHM)
