The leasing system used by the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources is considered outdated. This was emphasized by the Ministry’s permanent secretary, Raijeli Taga, during her presentation on the review of the 2022 Audit Report on the Economic Sector. She noted that the existing leasing system is incompatible with the newly revised financial management information system (FMIS).
Mrs. Taga remarked, “It cannot work with the current, the new revised financial system.” She added that this situation has impacted their ability to categorize aged arrears versus current ones. The Ministry is now developing a new system to effectively monitor and manage these arrears to reduce them over time.
Marika Qalo, the finance manager at the Ministry, discussed the revenue arrears for the financial years 2021 to 2024. For the 2021-2022 financial year, the revenue arrears totaled $35.8 million, decreasing to approximately $32.8 million by the end of 2022-2023, and further down to $32.2 million in 2023-2024. These figures include rental payments for the current year.
Mr. Qalo noted a decline in revenue arrears over the past three years relative to land rent collection. In the current financial year, the Ministry has collected about $24.3 million in total revenue, with $21 million from land rent. For the previous financial year, the total revenue was $23 million, of which $16.4 million came from land rent.
He also mentioned that there is a budget allocated to upgrade the outdated leasing system. “We are thankful that through the IT audit that was conducted, the Ministry was able to secure a budget for this financial year to upgrade the current system.”