For every government agency, there is one public officer with whom the buck is supposed to stop. Whether a permanent secretary or the head of a statutory board, he or she is held to account for the actions — and the spending — of that body.
But in the past, some accounting officers have been unaware of spending taking place in their departments, Financial Secretary Neil Smith said during this year’s Standing Finance Committee deliberations.
According to the report on the SFC deliberations, lawmakers discussed the matter at length during their annual debate on the territory’s finances, with Attorney General Dr. Christopher Malcolm telling HOA members that “he had considered it necessary to ensure that the members were aware of what the law said and that they understood that practice could not override the law” when it comes to spending public funds.
Dr. Malcolm added that government has an obligation to take action against “money leaking” from government coffers, and that “the measuring stick must be what the law says,” the report states.
See the March 6, 2014 edition for full coverage.
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