Govt needs stronger mechanisms to minimise financial misconduct:  NA

National Assembly (NA) members on Thursday urged the government to impose proper measures to address violations involving state finances after learning that this kind of crime is common.
During the debate session, which enabled Assembly members to comment on a report by the State Audit Organisation, lawmakers said it did not make much sense if the government did not act upon the findings of the audit body.
They also said the government should consider the possibility of allowing local authorities to spend public money not included in the state budget in cases of emergency, so they can deliver a timely response when natural disasters strike.
This would help to eliminate violations of financial discipline, they explained. The State Audit Organisation last week presented its 2018 financial audit to the National Assembly.
The report found that many central and local state agencies had not handed over the money they had collected for submission to the national treasury as required by law. This amount was estimated to be about 433 billion kip.
Assembly members said the government should use this finding as a reference in its efforts to stamp out financial misconduct.
Mr Saythong Keoduangdy, an Assembly member for Vientiane, said he had observed that the more audits the State Audit Organisation carried out, the more cases of financial violation it uncovered.
In some cases these violations were unavoidable because local authorities needed money to deal with natural disasters. But, he said, there should be a proper mechanism to allow local authorities to disburse funds in times of crisis.
He said one of the best options would be to establish central agencies which would collect information about the amount of infrastructure damage and the money needed to address these problems. Such a system would help to reduce financial wrongdoing.
Mr Saythong said this mechanism could prevent local authorities using natural disasters as an opportunity to spend state funds without getting approval as well as preventing them from spending money irresponsibly.
Ms Souvanpheng Bouphanouvong, Assembly member for Savannakhet province, said she had learnt that local authorities had to spend public money without first getting approval from the NA because the government ordered them to address problems in emergency situations. The problem is that the orders given by the government are very general, which creates opportunities for officials to misuse funds, she said.
To tackle the problem, she urged the central authorities to provide timely and close supervision about precisely which roads should be repaired, so that financial violations would not occur.Ms Souvanpheng said one way to minimise financial violations was to invite state agencies that failed to comply with the rules to explain their misdeeds.
This would provide a reference for the authorities when they wanted to amend laws to prevent financial misconduct.  
Another member said that violations of financial regulations should be investigated, as he believed that in some cases no harm was done but urgent action was needed to prevent a crisis.
“In practice, when we strictly comply with the law we cannot always resolve problems, especially when it comes to natural disasters,” he said, adding that the law should be amended so that emergencies could be dealt with promptly.
Other members said local authorities who did not comply with financial regulations should be given the opportunity to explain why they had not spent state funds in line with the law.
Ms Sengkham Somsana, Assembly member for Xieng Khuang province, said the government should reduce the budget allocated to state agencies which continued to violate the regulations so they would be deterred from future violations.
However, Ms Valy Vetsaphong, Assembly member for Vientiane, said it should be offending state officials who were penalised rather than the organisation they represented.
According to the law, the State Audit Organisation cannot file charges against wrongdoers as the imposition of penalties is the responsibility of the State Inspection Organisation.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update November 15, 2019)