LTA slammed for years-long delay in filing financial reports

Despite receiving clean audit opinions, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has come under fire for years of delay in submitting its financial statements.

Some of them as late as five years after the end of the financial year. Appearing before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, LTA chief executive officer Irimaia Rokosawa confirmed that audit reports for 2019 to 2023 were submitted only recently—despite being “unqualified,” meaning there were no major concerns with the figures.

The delay raised serious concerns from Members of Parliament.

Opposition MP, Alvick Maharaj, questioned the submissions stating: “If the reports were clean, why were they submitted so late?’’

“There was no reason why LTA couldn’t file the 2019 accounts in 2021 or 2022.”

In his response, Mr Rokosawa blamed the initial backlog on a 2016 change in the Government’s financial year, which required multiple audits in a short period.

However, he acknowledged that delays from 2019 onwards were due to difficulties reconciling agency revenue between LTA and the Ministry of Finance.

Assistant Minister for Finance and committee chairperson Esrom Immanuel was not satisfied: “The excuse about the 2016 change doesn’t hold for delays in 2019 and 2020. By then, the system should have been working.”

Committee member and Opposition MP Hem Chand added that LTA’s internal controls and reporting quality had been “ineffective” for years.

Although strategies have now been put in place to improve financial reporting, he asked whether this meant those systems were previously missing.

Mr Rokosawa admitted there had been weaknesses, but assured the committee that LTA now compiles its financial books within three months of year-end. “We are improving,” he said.

“But we acknowledge there’s still room to tighten our internal controls.”

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