Report flags gaps in checks for $226.1m COVID cash programme

The Auditor-General could not confirm whether Fiji's first COVID-19 cash payment of $90, given to 118,000 applicants in May 2021, reached only one member of each household as required.

This was highlighted in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts Review Report on the Compliance Audit Report, tabled in Parliament this month.

The report said the Ministry of Finance did not provide datasets or documentation to verify that the one-member-per-household restriction had been enforced.

“The Auditor-General was unable to determine whether the requirement of restricting assistance to one household member was met,” the report said.

The audit also found that no documented risk assessment was conducted for the $226.1 million Cash Assistance Programme, despite the Ministry having standard operating procedures in place.

The report found that key personnel managing the programme did not submit written conflict of interest declarations, while reviews and approvals of staff tasks were not formally documented.

Verification of applicants relied partly on the then Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation. However, auditors said outdated and manual data held by the ministry reduced the accuracy of eligibility checks.

The committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance document all future risk assessments and require written conflict of interest declarations from staff managing relief programmes.

It also recommended stronger verification methods when third-party data is incomplete or outdated.

Comments were sought last week from the Ministry of Finance and its Permanent Secretary, Shiri Goundar.