Mariental Municipality should recover costs: Kandjeke

WINDHOEK, 17 MAR – Auditor General Junias Kandjeke said the N.dollars 9.3 million deficit of the town of Mariental is unsustainable and further urged the municipality to recover an unexplained N.dollars 7.3 million it accrued in 2016.
In the municipality’s audit report for the financial year that ended 2016, tabled this week in the National Assembly by Deputy Finance Minister Natangwe Ithete, Kandjeke said the deficit was a concern.
The report reveals that the value of expenditures has increased by N.dollars 9.3 million compared to the previous financial year.
“This is a cause of concern as it could lead to high interest payments,” Kandjeke said in the report.
Another brow raising matter is the unexplained difference between the municipality records and bank statements of nearly N.dollars 7.3 million.
“The council should investigate and clear all reconciling items on the bank reconciliation,” Kandjeke advised.
The report further reveals a deficit of about N.dollars 19.3 million on expenditure, which exceeds the value of income generated during the year under review.
The municipality generated revenue of N.dollars 1.6 million from its own self-supporting services, such as house leasing units, abattoir, aerodrome, sanitation, sewerage, the town ground and pound services.
However, the report uncovered that the council failed to use approved tariffs for sewerage charges on the billing system.
“The council should ensure that the approved tariffs are charged in the billing system and should perform regular reconciliations to avoid possible misstatement of the financial statements,” Kandjeke stated.
The report further shows that the municipality is owed around N.dollars 285 182 (in 2016) in outstanding study loans (2015 – N.dollars 280 493). The study loans bear interest at 6 per cent per annum and are repayable upon completion of studies.
In addition, they spent N.dollars 84 732 on unspecified gifts and donations. This is a N.dollars 60 732 increase from N.dollars 24 000 of the previous year.

NAMPA