CA head claims difficulties in monitoring public spending

LRT construction works

Audit commissioner Ho Veng On said that it is impossible for his department to monitor every detail of the expenses of all public departments. He has urged state institutions to manage their expenses well and review their own work instead of merely relying on the Commission of Audit (CA).
“Frankly, how can the Commission of Audit monitor every part [of a department]? I think this is not very realistic. What is important is to have every public department do well in managing themselves and [utilize] public resources reasonably and in accordance to the law. That way, the operation [of the departments] will be more… appropriate,” he said.
Mr Ho also refused to further comment on the “ghost bus” issue, where bus companies allegedly dispatched empty buses in order to boost their total kilometer count and get larger subsidies from the government. He said that the commission’s opinion has already been included in the audit report, and he has nothing to add to that for now.
The commissioner’s comments were made on the sidelines of the Cross-straits, Hong Kong and Macau Accounting Profession Conference, which took place in town yesterday. Around 500 accounting and auditing professionals from Macau, the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan attended the event.
Ho Veng On was one of the senior officials to officiate the opening ceremony, alongside the Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan and Chen Sixi, deputy director of the Central Government Liaison Office in Macau.
In his speech, the president of the Union of Associations of Professional Accountants of Macau, Chui Sai Cheong, said that professionalism is a resource of the industry. He also believes that the quality of accounting is not only affected by the establishment and development of accounting standards. The professionalism and judgment of accounting professionals also play crucial roles. JPL