Audit Detects Millions Missing In Havana / 14ymedio

Comptroller General of the Republic of Cuba, on 23rd Street in Vedado, Havana. (14ymedio)
Comptroller General of the Republic of Cuba, on 23rd Street in Vedado, Havana. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, 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.”