Audit Detects Millions Missing In Havana

Audit Detects Millions Missing In Havana / 14ymedio
Posted on January 30, 2016

14ymedio, 28 January 2016 – The results of the "national internal
control check" undertaken by the Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic between January and September 2015 in Havana has set off
alarms. In 366 audits conducted on 63 entities, it was found that more
than 267 million pesos had gone missing (a combined figure for Cuban
Pesos and Cuban Convertible Pesos), according to the government
newspaper Granma, reporting on Thursday.

This is the tenth internal control check of this kind and the findings
of the inspection were announced Wednesday at the Ministry of Energy and
Mines, through statements by Miriam Marban, head comptroller for the
Cuban capital.

The official stressed the need for greater "preparation, responsibility,
demand and organization in management" to avoid losses of this
magnitude, and she also stated that there had been no progress in the
control of resources as had been expected.

Corruption and diversion of resources was on the agenda of the 2015
parliamentary sessions, where Comptroller General Gladys Bejerano
Portela, emphasized that the greatest effects were concentrated in
inventories, contracts, billing, fuel, the leasing and use of land, and
standards of consumption and waste.

During the meeting this Wednesday, the issues of preparing institutions
for the aging population was analyzed, and current mistakes in the
supervision of the old age homes that were audited were detailed. In
surveys, respondent complaints focused on the hygienic and structural
conditions of these institutions.

The awarding of subsidies for the purchase of building materials was
also a target of criticism. The Comptroller General revealed a lack of
monitoring of the progress of the subsequent work undertaken, along with
obstacles and delays in delivering the aid, as was the case in Central
Havana, in which only 5% of the total beneficiaries of subsidies had
actually received building materials.

The secretary of the Communist Party in the capital, Mercedes Lopez
Acea, said the plan "has to prioritize those most in need." Lopez, who
is also a member of the Politburo, said managers have "an obligation" to
control "the proper use of available resources."

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