By Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin, MBE, JP, MLA

Minister of Finance Marco Archer, JP, MLA

Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson

12 November, 2014 Press Conference

Ministries receive Auditor’s accolades

Over the course of the past seven or so years there has been much justified criticism about the failure of the Cayman Islands Government to comply with the Public Management and Finance Law with respect to its accounts. Today I am happy to announce that finally there is some good news from the Auditor General about the progress that this Administration is making on getting our accounting system up to scratch.

Three Ministries under the Progressives-led Administration have received favourable and complimentary words from the Auditor General.

For the first time since the Public Management and Finance Law came into effect in 2004, the 2013/14 financial statements for the Ministry of Community Affairs and Portfolio of Civil Service have been signed by the Auditor General with an unqualified opinion and within the statutory deadline. Additionally, the financial statements for the Ministry of District Administration, Tourism and Transport have received a qualified opinion from the Auditor General. The Auditor General has said “this is the first time that a Ministry responsible for Tourism or District Administration has not received an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion since the introduction of the PMFL, which is a notable step forward in accountability and is something which deserves to be marked”.

An unqualified opinion can be likened to a clean slate. In audit parlance it means that the auditors believe the financial statements are sound and factual and can be relied upon.

Government agencies are required to submit its financial statements to the Auditor General by 31st August each year. An email to Deputy Gov. from the Auditor General sent on Saturday, 1 November, informed him that by the end of the day of 31 October, the Auditor General’s office had achieved the sign off of 23 out of the potential 42 entity financial statements for the budget year ending 30 June, 2014.

We still have a ways to go, but in the words of the Auditor General, this is the best result that has been achieved since the introduction of the PMFL.

While we appreciate that Government still has a lot to do when it comes to submitting financials in a timely manner and getting them right the first time, I honestly believe this Administration is setting the right tone.

I commend the men and women in the Civil Service who have spent many hours striving to get our financial statements and reporting up to par. I especially thank and praise Chief Officer Dorine Whittaker for her leadership and Chief Financial Officer Stephanie Azan and her team in my own Ministry of Community of Affairs for getting it right the first time. I also wish to commend CFO Neyka Webster in the Ministry of District Administration, Tourism and Transport and her team for their efforts and achievements and Nadisha Walters, CFO of PoCs.

I am seeing a new attitude of cooperation and responsiveness in Government as it works with the Auditor General’s Office and I appreciate it. This is not by chance, but by design. This Government has worked tirelessly since being returned to office to restore stability to the country and the economy.

A large part of that work has been overseen and ushered through by Finance Minister Hon. Marco Archer. I again commend him and his very capable team for the infectious zeal they bring to their Government duties.

We will continue to move forward and strive for improvement, but I think we should celebrate the improvements that have been made in the accountability for the use of public resources.

I again thank my staff and all of those in Government who worked to bring us these accolades. It proves we are more than capable of being good stewards of the Government the people has entrusted to us.

Thank you.