Numerous irregularities occurred at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to information from the Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate, the Chief Inspector of the province issued Notice No. 11/TB-TT on the conclusion of the inspection regarding the implementation of policies, laws, and assigned tasks and powers in financial management at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Numerous irregularities at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The inspection report highlighted shortcomings and deficiencies at the Department's Office regarding the development of internal spending regulations, which did not specifically regulate overtime pay, drinking water expenses, and meal allowances during conferences, seminars, and professional training sessions; the provision of meal and accommodation allowances for invited delegates who are not eligible for salaries from the state budget; and several other issues not included in the regulations, such as expenditures from fine revenue and fixed telephone allowances for inter-agency teams.

Headquarters of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau Province.

The payment of 531.5 million VND for project management concurrent duties was not in accordance with Clause 2, Article 30 of Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP, while the document regulating the payment of concurrent duties allowances had expired, and the payment of royalties exceeded the prescribed rate by 24.7 million VND according to Decision No. 40/2015/QD-UBND.

Furthermore, internal financial audits were not conducted at the Department's Office as stipulated in Decision No. 67/2004/QD-BTC, and the inter-agency inspection team was not inspected as stipulated in Decision No. 1438/QD-UBND, even though the plan had not been approved as required by Point 5, Article 2 of Decision No. 1438/QD-UBND.

The Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate also pointed out violations at the Center for Management and Exploitation of Irrigation Works, specifically the disbursement of project management allowances totaling 519.7 million VND, which was not in accordance with Clause 2, Article 30 of Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP, even though the document regulating the disbursement of such allowances had expired.

The Western Sea Protective Forest Management Board has reported that expenses for entertaining guests lacked written documentation or notification from the units sent to work there; expenses for purchasing, repairing, or replacing supplies lacked records of damage assessment and price quotations; some travel expense payment documents lacked work assignment and payment request forms; and no inventory log for office supplies has been maintained.

The Dat Mui Protective Forest Management Board has several documents lacking payment receipts as per internal spending regulations; entertainment expenses lacked budget estimates submitted to leadership approval, along with supporting documents or notifications from visiting units; and some purchase, repair, and replacement documents lacked price quotations.

Payments for Tet holiday support in 2020 lacked payment request forms and attendance records; fuel payments for forest protection inspection and acceptance lacked acceptance reports; and vehicle rental payments lacked assignment documents.

Regarding the project, the contractor selection plan and the results of the contractor selection have not yet been published on the national bidding network system.

The Agricultural Extension Center's payment for hall rental, contracted and terminated by staff of the Commune People's Committee office with the Agricultural Extension Center, and supported by personal receipts for payment; the contract for purchasing shrimp fry, acceptance and handover records, training schedule, and payment schedule for accompanying supplies... are inconsistent in terms of chronological order.

The Forest Protection Department purchased fire prevention and control equipment without a request from the teams; the time allocated for hiring personnel to clear the fire prevention and control training area and for the training sessions were inappropriate; training meal allowances for salaried civil servants were insufficient; the approval of the budget for purchasing and repairing forest fire prevention and control assets and equipment in 2022 was flawed; and there was a lack of authorization from the Head of the Forest Protection Department for the forest protection units to sign labor contracts.

Handling violations

To address the aforementioned violations, the Provincial Inspectorate requested the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to conduct a review of lessons learned within the Department and direct its subordinate and affiliated units to learn from the shortcomings and deficiencies identified in the inspection report and the minutes of meetings at the Department and its subordinate and affiliated units.

Specifically, the internal spending regulations should include a comprehensive list of expenditure tasks, expenditure items, and specific spending limits; minimize large cash reserves; plan for the recovery of outstanding advances; monitor outstanding receivables and payables annually; and identify specific cases such as those where the recipient cannot be identified or the person has passed away, and submit them to the competent authority for guidance on how to handle them.

Directing units and individuals involved in advising on and approving expenditures to ensure that all procedures are followed as prescribed and that the contractor selection results comply with regulations; conducting internal financial audits as stipulated in Decision No. 67/2004/QD-BTC; the inter-agency inspection team, as per Decision No. 1438/QD-UBND, shall develop a plan for submission for approval as stipulated in Point 5, Article 2 of Decision No. 1438/QD-UBND.

At the same time, the Dat Mui Protective Forest Management Board, the Bien Tay Protective Forest Management Board, the Center for Management and Exploitation of Irrigation Works, the Agricultural Extension Center, and the Forest Protection Sub-Department must organize a review of the shortcomings and deficiencies identified in the inspection report and the minutes of meetings with the inspection team.

The Chief Inspector of Ca Mau province issued a decision to recover 1,075 million VND, including: 531.5 million VND from the Department's Office for project management allowances and 24.7 million VND for excess royalties; and 519.7 million VND from the Center for Management and Exploitation of Irrigation Works for project management allowances.

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/ca-mau-nhieu-sai-pham-xay-ra-tai-so-nnptnt-a610681.html