A (2) 22
(c) An Electric ceiling fan, valued at $65, was stolen from Government premises, presumably by a person representing himself to be a workman. As several cases had occurred in the past in which electrical fittings installed in Government property had been stolen in a similar manner, Government found it necessary to issue a circular requiring officers to take certain precautions to prevent further losses of this nature.
(d) Two water meters costing $119.37 were stolen from Public latrines. They were written off under the authority of the Financial Secretary.
(e) Five hundred and forty yards of wire fencing situated near a Railway station, of a replacement cost of $45.00, was stolen. Government approved of the "write off" of this amount.
Manner in which the accounts have been kept.
114. It may be said that generally the stores accounts of the Colony have been accurately kept, but in many instances it was discovered that the systems employed were unnecessarily cumbersome, and gave rise to much waste of labour and stationery. For instance, it was customary for some departments to maintain a number of bulky and expensive ledgers which were closed at the end of the year, and to transfer the balances of each account to a new set of books, despite the fact that the old ledgers were by no means exhausted. In addition, ledger entries, termed locally "In and Out" entries, were often made in respect of receipts and issues of small quantities of consumable stores which were required for immediate use. The most trivial issues of stationery were in one department meticulously recorded and accounted for, whereas sufficient control could usually, in the opinion of audit, have been exercised by keeping the stocks under lock and key. It appears that in some instances General Order No. 428(3), Colonial Regulation 343, and Allocated Stores Regulations No. 171 and 173, had been too literally interpreted. The requirements of Government in this connection have been more clearly defined by the recent issue of an amendment to the General Order referred to.
115. Little uniformity was also observed both as regards the stores records maintained by the various Government Departments, and the manner in which stores were accounted for. A number of proposals were therefore submitted by Audit to eliminate unnecessary stores accounting, and to standardise the systems employed. In addition, a standard form of Allocated Stores ledger was recommended. All these suggestions were well received and have been acted upon.
Shing Mun Stores—disposal of.
116. With reference to paragraphs 51 to 55 of the previous Audit Report, a considerable quantity of the Shing Mun plant has now been disposed of by transfer to Government Departments, for which financial adjustments were made. The residue of the smaller and less valuable items of the stock was sold in bulk to the highest bidder after Tenders had been called for.
117. The remainder, composed mainly of large and valuable items, were taken over by the Public Works Department, and it is understood that an endeavour will be made to dispose of them whenever opportunity occurs.
A (2) 22
(c) An Electric ceiling fan, valued at $65 was stolen from Government premises, presumably by a person representing himself to be a work- man. As several cases had occurred in the past in which electrical fittings installed in Government property had been stolen in a similar manner, Government found it necessary to issue a circular requiring officers to take certain precautions to prevent further losses of this
nature.
(d) Two water meters costing $119.37 were stolen from Public latrines.
They were written off under the authority of the Financial Secretary.
(e) Five hundred and forty yards of wire fencing situated near a Railway station, of a replacement cost of $45.00, was stolen. Government approved of the "write off" of this amount.
Manner in which the accounts have been kept.
114. It may be said that generally the stores accounts of the Colony have been accurately kept, but in many instances it was discovered that the systems employed were unnecessarily cumbersome, and gave rise to much waste of labour and stationery. For instance it was customary for some departments to maintain a number of bulky and expensive ledgers which were closed at the end of the year, and to transfer the balances of each account to a new set of books, despite the fact that the old ledgers were by no means exhausted. In addition ledger entries, termed locally "In and Out" entries, were often made in respect of receipts and issues of small quantites of consumable stores which were required for immediate use. The most trivial issues of stationery were in one department meticulously recorded and accounted for, whereas sufficient control could usually, in the opinion of audit, have been exercised by keeping the stocks under lock and key. appears that in some instances General Order No. 428 (3), Colonial Regulation 343, and Allocated Stores Regulations No. 171 and 173, had been too literally inter- preted. The requirements of Government in this connection have been more clearly defined by the recent issue of an amendment to the General Order referred to.
It
115. Little uniformity was also observed both as regards the stores records maintained by the various Government Departments, and the manner in which stores were accounted for. A number of proposals were therefore submitted by Audit to eliminate unnecessary stores accounting, and to standardise the systems employed. In addition a standard form of Allocated Stores ledger was recommended. All these suggestions were well received and have been acted upon.
Shing Mun Stores—disposal of.
116. With reference to paragraphs 51 to 55 of the previous Audit Report a considerable quantity of the Shing Mun plant has now been disposed of by transfer to Government Departments, for which financial adjustments were made. The residue of the smaller and less valueable items of the stock was sold in bulk to the highest bidder after Tenders had been called for.
117. The remainder, composed mainly of large and valuable items, were taken over by the Public Works Department, and it is understood that an endeavour will be made to dispose of them whenever opportunity occurs.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.