Mr. Chairman, Supplementary Appropriation No. 5 requests authority for the additional appropriations of $635,000 for operation and maintenance expenditures. This request is being made to comply with the authorization process for over expenditures of appropriations as stated in the Financial Administration Act. The authorization process required by the FAA is quite technical and complicated.
However, the office of the Auditor General has noted that regardless of whether the process is practical, the government should follow the letter of the law and obtain the necessary authority for over-expenditures. The over-expenditures are largely attributed to the processing of liabilities that were not recorded in the government's accounting records after the fiscal year ended.
At the conclusion of each fiscal year, there is a period of time when the Financial Management Board Secretariat reviews any unrecorded liabilities with departmental staff prior to finalizing the interim financial report and public accounts. The FAA, as well as generally accepted accounting principles, requires that these liabilities be accrued and charged to the departments appropriation as an expenditure for that fiscal period.
The FAA further requires that if the accruing of a liability causes a department to exceed its appropriation, the amount by which the appropriation is exceeded is an interim appropriation that must be submitted in the form of a supplementary appropriation bill to the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to review the details of the supplementary appropriation document. Thank you.