LTA under fire over unresolved corruption cases

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is under heavy scrutiny after admitting it has been unable to fully prevent corruption.

There are 95 cases now under investigation and outdated systems have been blamed for the ongoing issues.

This was revealed during the LTA’s submission to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the 2021-2022 Audit Report in Parliament on Monday.

Committee members questioned the authority over its failure to resolve cases dating back to 2017, including 80 referred to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC), 11 to police, and four to the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS).

Committee chairperson and Assistant Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel questioned the representatives.

He said there were still many cases still unresolved.

“What’s your process with FICAC? Do you meet with them regularly?” Mr Immanuel asked.

In response, acting chief financial officer Shanil Rao said LTA updated its audit and risk register regularly, but admitted gaps remain.

He also confirmed that both staff and members of the public were involved in the reported cases.

LTA chief executive officer Irimaia Rokowasa admitted the authority’s internal systems were outdated and vulnerable.

“Some of our systems are not integrated. There are loopholes and risks we’ve identified, but not all can be stopped,” he said.

Mr Rokowasa also revealed that LTA must constantly rely on external developers for system changes.

It’s a process he said was slow and inefficient.

“Even small law changes require us to go back to developers. This slows us down and keeps loop-holes open,” he said.

The committee raised concern on years of flagged risks.

Mr Rokowasa said steps were be-ing taken, including trialing body cameras, for officers and planning for full digitisation.

“There’s no excuse for inaction,” Mr Immanuel said.

“This is a serious governance issue.”

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