The Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources has created a template to assist landowning units in preparing their financial statements for auditing purposes. During discussions on the review of the 2022 Audit Report on the economic sector, Ministry Permanent Secretary Raijeli Taga emphasized the importance of good governance and transparency, acknowledging the recommendations from the Auditor-General’s Office.
Taga mentioned that the ministry has provided extensive training on an individual basis for the landowning units, as recommended by the auditors. Together with the Auditor-General’s team, the ministry developed a template for audit financial statements (AFS) tailored for the landowning units. This year, consultations occurred with 14 landowning units, involving four face-to-face sessions and ten conducted via email.
Challenges in reaching landowners during awareness programs were noted due to their daytime commitments, requiring special appointments for group training sessions. For 2024, the team has begun consultations with 10 landowning units primarily through email and phone, focusing on the new template needed for trust fund accounts.
Looking ahead, the ministry plans to continue face-to-face awareness sessions and visits to landowning units or trustees while conducting a trustees’ workshop in the second quarter, with a budget of $8,000 allocated for this purpose. Additionally, discussions are ongoing regarding amendments to the Land Use Act, which would shift the responsibility of submitting annual financial statements from trustees to annual trustees’ workshops, with the finance team monitoring compliance with lease agreements.
This initiative emerged from consultations with the Auditor-General’s Office, which guided the creation of the currently utilized template.