By Bouli Hadjioannou
THE VETERINARY department is spending money storing animal sperm that no- one seems to want, but is now destroying it.
A bus company was paid £5,030 by the Ministry of Defence for bus routes that it never carried out (the money was later reclaimed).
The tarmac at Larnaca airport’s aeroplane parking area had to be resurfaced because it proved impossible to establish the depth of a newly laid surface.
Cyprus’ High Commissioner in Canberra rented a new house without first securing the approval of the ministries of foreign affairs and finance as procedures stipulate. He said the move did not entail any extra cost for the state. Faced with a fait accompli, the ministries gave their approval.
In Cairo, an embassy employee forgot the safe open. Egyptian police are now investigating the theft of £4,622.
There was 10 per cent less building material used on the Kambos-Stavros tis Psokas road than initially delivered.
Retired policemen still live in police housing – despite efforts to get them to move out.
And because no closing day was given for compensation claims from the February 1995 earthquake, requests are still coming in.
These are just some of the irregularities in the public sector pinpointed by Auditor-general Spyros Christou in his annual report for 1996.
The 254-page report – handed to President Clerides on Monday and distributed to the press, covers government ministries and other departments as well as municipalities and semi-government organisation.
It catalogues shortcomings in procedures, delays in collecting back taxes and other dues, bad planning in development projects, weaknesses in the tenders procedures and much more.
Spyrou is the first to point out that many of his observations have been made before – one sum of money has been outstanding since 1983.
But he also notes his recommendations have been heeded in several instances and corrective action was being taken.
Here are some highlights from his report:
TAXES
The Inland Revenue Department saw outstanding taxes fall by 10 per cent – but still faces the daunting task of collecting some £164 million owed. The Auditor-general notes there is a huge backlog in objections, many of which have been pending for years. The department also had a huge pile of tax forms to go through – including cases involving big sums. A “large number of people with taxable incomes” have still not been taxed, he added.
The current system under which employers withhold, and later pay the income tax of their employees, was not working well, he said. Many employers did not submit the necessary information in time, while others never passed on their employees’ money to the authorities.
As for the church, Spyrou notes it was still not paying property tax, capital gains tax (for which it owes £6.7 million alone) and other taxes.
THE JUDICIARY
The Inland Revenue department is not the only one that has money to collect. District courts are also owed considerable sums (£1.421 million in the case of the Nicosia district court alone) while there is also delay in the execution of court orders islandwide.
SOCIAL SECURITY FUND
Huge sums are also owed here. The fund has £6.5 million due from tried cases awarded in favour of the fund.
COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY
Many projects were late starting, or finishing – usually at significant extra cost. For example, the ministry’s decision to change plans for the new Larnaca airport meant an extra 30 months’ delay, and another £600,000 of tax payers’ money.
The report notes delays improving the Paphos archaeological park. Other projects – such as stretches of the Nicosia-Limassol highway – need constant repairs.
Civil aviation has still to collect some £600,000 due from foreign charter companies for violating regulations. And Cyprus Airways owes half a million pounds for using Larnaca airport.
