National Assembly lawmakers denounced an audit of the 2001 national budget on Thursday, calling it “unbelievable” and not transparent.
The audit, submitted to National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh on Dec 12 by the National Audit Authority, covered primarily the state property department of the Ministry of Finance during 2001.
According to the audit, the only provincial or municipal tax department assessed was the Phnom Penh tax office. The audit also states that a complete assessment of the fisheries, forestry and mines concessions was not completed.
“I do not agree with this report—it doesn’t look like proper auditing and it was done with no transparency,” said Funcinpec parliamentarian Keo Remy.
Keo Remy criticized all government institutions, including the Assembly, the Senate, police departments and the National Audit Authority.
Sin Po, the deputy auditor-general for the Authority, agreed that the audit was neither transparent nor independent.
“Not all members have had a chance to be involved in the auditing and assessments, and not all ministries and institutions in the country had been audited independently,” Sin Po said, speaking to the Assembly. “Even I was not assigned to be involved in the assessments. It was not a proper report.”
Most of the blame for the incorrect auditing, however, can be attributed to the lack of human resources at the National Audit Authority and the short amount of time available to complete the audit, he said.
Another deputy auditor-general, Seng Ronn—who also serves as the legal adviser to Prince Ranariddh, refused to comment in detail, saying only that he was not assigned to assist in the 2001 audit.
Funcinpec lawmaker Nan Sy suggested that the Authority, rather than the government, should appoint the auditors to ensure their independence.
Nan Sy, who agreed that the audit was inadequate, said he will call Uth Chhorn, the auditor-general for the Authority, to answer questions before the Assembly next week.
“We will ask them what they have done for the nation,” he said. “We have a right to know all the work by the Audit Authority.”
Uth Chhorn declined to comment on Thursday.
A copy of the audit shows some discrepancies in the government’s listed gross revenue between Jan 1, 2001, and Dec 31, 2001. For example, the figure for the draft of the national budget gross revenue for 2001 was $616.22 million, while the audit shows that the same figure was $616.62 million.
