New oversight post

Article by Heather-Lynn Evanson

A NEW POST will be created to keep an eagle eye on Government spending and especially state-owned enterprises.

Word of this has come from Attorney General Dale Marshall, who announced the new post of Comptroller General would be introduced as part of the Public Finance Management Bill 2018. That legislation is to be debated in the House of Assembly tomorrow.

Speaking during yesterday’s BrassTacks Sunday on Starcom Network, Marshall said the position would be second-in-command to the Director of Finance in the Ministry of Finance, who was the “chief overseer of all day-to-day Government finances”.

The civil servant, the Attorney General said, would function “more or less” as Government’s chief accountability officer.

“So, the Comptroller General is going to be responsible for setting standards. The individual is going to be responsible for overseeing the financial planning and the financial management of all of the state-owned operations, and report any issues that might arise to the Director of Finance,” said Marshall.

He stressed the new oversight role was extremely important in light of the fact that there were several statutory bodies which were.(HLE)

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