As you saw earlier, we interviewed the Auditor-General today.
We found her at an event at the Roaring River golf course where her Office unveiled a proposal for Cabinet which would allow them to release audit reports independently. Here's the story:
Maria Rodriguez, Auditor-General - Office of the Auditor-General
"We are presenting to my management team a proposal, a Cabinet paper that we would like to submit to the Cabinet Secretary and later the Cabinet, regarding our work and how we can move forward with all the backlog audits that are on, and to further explain the reason we have not been able to submit annual reports is because we have not received financial statements for the last, I would say, 7 years, 7 to 8 years. The last one we received was 2017–2018, and so our work depends on the submission of the annual statements for us to compile an annual report that completes the Part B of that report with an opinion and a compilation of all the audits that we did for that fiscal year. I want to move from that. I want to be able to publish my work without waiting for annual statement."
Benjamin Fuentes, Consultant - INTOSAI Development Initiative
"We think that the independence of a supreme institution is a relevant element within the accountability system of a country. And in the paper, we are highlighting the relevance of supporting the independence of the Office of the Auditor-General of Belize, trying to identify mechanisms that can strengthen the interaction between the office and the legislative."
Jaleeza Roberts, Reporter
"Can you talk to us about why it's so important for an external auditor to come in and help establish this bill?"
Benjamin Fuentes
"Well, we are supporting the Office of the Auditor-General to identify elements that should be part of this strategy to strengthen their independence, because we consider that independence is a fundamental requirement for a supreme institution to generate value and benefits to society and to the accountability system in the country."
