Audit Chamber rejected annual accounts Antilles

October 05, 2010 1:26 PM

The General Audit Chamber of the Netherlands Antilles did not approve the 2006 and 2007 annual accounts of the country. According to the chamber, a lot is wrong with the annual accounts on the relevant years.

For example, inquiry revealed material errors, so that there's uncertainty on the actual capital position of the Netherlands Antilles. The chamber mentioned a whole "shopping list" of faults in the 2006 and 2007 annual accounts.

The faults among other things regard the lack of approval of the annual accounts by the relevant appointed internal accountants, inadequate financial management of various parts, the missing of supplemental budgets determined by National Ordinance, not publishing the budgets on time, non-authorised expenditures, the lack of required approval by Parliament, too low, but also too high entries in the annual accounts, as well as uncertainty on the accuracy and completeness of the entries.

However, apart from criticism, the chamber is positive and even pleased in the report. For example, it concludes there is an improvement since the earlier report on the annual accounts of 2002 up to and including 2005.

According to the Audit Chamber, the country has made numerous efforts to improve the defaults pointed out. The Department of Finances for instance drew up an action plan, while initiating and implementing various other actions.

These efforts did not have any consequences for the annual accounts 2006 and 2007, because they were implemented afterwards, according to the Chamber. For that matter, the report of the findings up to 2005 is dated Augustus 2008.

The Chamber further remarked that the country had coped with numerous administrative problems, which had complicated the process for the assessment of annual accounts. It regards among other things that one had not determined the source documents adequately in the past.

In addition, one had not kept files correctly or cleared them, so that there is still uncertainty on the correct and complete accountability of certain entries. Furthermore, the administrative organisation was inadequate, so that one cannot guarantee the entirety and the correctness of the accountability.

Apart from commending the Department of Finance, the Chamber indicated that efforts of other departments are required as well, so that they too could bear their responsibility in this matter.

2 October 2010