Friday, September 05, 2008 COA 7 chides island town for idle computer software
REGIONAL state auditors rapped the Municipal Government of Pilar for buying computer software application worth close to P3 million in 2007 and not using it.
The Commission on Audit (COA) 7 said the unused computerization program is not doing any good to the town.
The municipality bought the software application last year supposedly to modernize its business management, treasury collection system and government net payroll system.
“In our inquiry, we were informed that though the hardware is currently in the use, the status on the application of the software is not working contrary to the expected outputs indicated in the purchase release,” COA 7 said in its annual report.
The town’s information office admitted to regional auditors that the computerization project is yet to be fully operational since the computer software application needs repair.
It said they don’t have computer literacy training for personnel who will manage the software before a computerized system can be installed.
No planning
COA 7 said the town didn’t have adequate planning to run a computerization system, which prevented the program from achieving its purpose.
COA 7 said the outputs from the new software could not be generated due to “technicalities” that need to be repaired.
“The design installed did not produce the necessary report or outputs that it should be attained, which included business permits, management system and treasury collection system and government net pay,” said the report.
Limited training
COA 7 said there was limited training for personnel to operate the system.
“Those who are currently handling the business permit management and treasury collection systems have inadequate knowledge in computerization and were not trained for the job,” the auditors said.
Worse, the employee trained to operate the system was assigned to another job, COA 7 said.
COA 7 said the six-month warranty of the computer program has already lapsed.
Auditors said the cash bond and the performance bond worth P150,000 had been released last Oct. 26, 2007, which could mean additional cost to the municipality.
COA 7 said the technician for the project has not visited the town anymore, so repairs have yet to be done. (GMD)
