Provincial councils run like “private banks” with millions in bad loans

Provincial councils were operated like “privately owned local banks” giving out loans to the public without any recovery systems or security in place.

Opposition Member of Parliament Alvick Maharaj revealed this yesterday during debate on the Consolidated Review Report on Provincial Councils covering 2011 to 2018.

“The problem has been the mindset of the people running the organisation from the day of inception,” Mr Maharaj said.

Mr Maharaj, who is also a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said most of the loans given through provincial councils are now with the Ministry of Finance waiting to be written off.

“We have been informed reliably that it amounts to millions of dollars,” he said.

The revelations came as Parliament debated findings that all 42 financial statements from 14 provincial councils between 2013-2018 received disclaimer opinions from the Auditor-General.

Assistant Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel, who presented the report, said the iTaukei Affairs Board’s own accounts had not been updated since 2008.

“The iTaukei Affairs Board should be leading the Provincial Councils, however, their accounts are delayed more than the Provincial Councils,” said Opposition MP Hem Chand.

The audit backlog ranged from seven to nine years, with some financial reports delayed by over seven years compared to regulated timeframes.

Minister for Rural Development Sakiasi Ditoka described the findings as “nothing short of alarming” and said it represented “a symptom of a deeper erosion of transparency.”

The committee made six recommendations including engaging external accounting firms to complete outstanding accounts and conducting special performance audits on the iTaukei Affairs Board.