Delinquent recommendations by OPA dropped 66 percent

The number of delinquent recommendations issued by the Office of the Public Auditor dropped 66 percent to 61 in 2000 from the previous year’s 181, indicating serious actions taken by several government agencies to address financial loopholes.

Public Auditor Mike Sablan said actions taken by the Coordinating Group supported OPA’s efforts to close recommendations and encouraged agency action on delinquent recommendations.

“This decrease in the number of delinquent recommendations is largely attributable to the meetings held with the various government agencies,” said Mr. Sablan in his April 10 report.

A report released by OPA yesterday disclosed the government’s auditing arm closed 102 or at least 39 percent of the 264 recommendations it tracked in 2000.

An analysis of the 102 closed recommendations for the year 2000 showed that most of the cases acted upon were largely because agencies came out with implementing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with existing laws and regulations, said Mr. Sablan.

He said meetings with agency heads provided a reasonable plan and time frame for action which reclassified delinquent recommendations to active status.

Agencies also took action on recommendations by responding to follow-up letters and providing documents sufficient to close some delinquent recommendations, he added.

The Public Auditor has noted a major improvement in the way the CNMI government responds to its recommendations which was primarily brought about by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s move to establish the Audit Coordinating Council.

OPA noticed that the government started taking fast-tracked action on its recommendations since the governor created the Audit Coordinating Council headed by Finance Secretary Lucy Nielsen.

However, OPA stressed that OPA does not expect all of its recommendations to be immediately acted upon by the government or any of its agencies.

The Commonwealth Ports Authority topped OPA’s list of government agencies with the most number of delinquent recommendations that date back to 1994, followed by the Public School System, the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation and the Rota Municipal Council.

The Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission has five delinquent cases, while the Washington Representative’s Office and the Saipan Mayor’s Office have four each. The Northern Marianas College is yet to act on three OPA recommendations that have already gone delinquent.