Pacific

Fiji reports pinpoint salary overspending

13:47 pm on 23 October 2014

Reports from Fiji say the recently released Auditor General's reports reveal overspending on salaries by some ministries.

The government tabled the long-awaited reports from 2007 to 2013 in parliament last week.

The Fiji Sun says the 2010 report revealed overspending on the Ministry of Health's payroll amounted to seven million US dollars.

The same report found the Ministry of Education overspent by more than seven million dollars, with salaries overpaid by 24,000 dollars.

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The 2010 report also noted the health ministry kept in stock expired drugs to the tune of three quarters of a million dollars.

It said poor accounting at the Ministry of Transport and Works increased the risk of fraud at the ministry

The 2012 report shows the Ministry of Education lost nearly 25,000 due to embezzlement by staff, with staff overpaid by nearly 130,000 dollars.

The 2008 report showed poor debt collection practices in the the Ministry of Lands, Mineral Resources and Environment meant it was more than five million in arrears.

The Fiji Times reports the 2013 report on the Elections Office noted no cabinet approval for the transfer of half a million dollars to the Attorney-General's office for the consultation and printing of the 2013 Constitution.

The reports will undergo scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee.