Audit Office monitoring distribution of cash grant

The Audit Office is monitoring the distribution of the $25,000 COVID-19 cash grant to ensure that it is done within the required laws and that it reaches the most vulnerable.

Auditor General, Deodat Sharma on Thursday told the News Room that his office has persons in each of the coastal region monitoring the progress of the exercise.

“We want to see how the money was spent; for example, if it’s Region One, you’ve paid so many people [and so on] because remember it got two tiers assistance of the initial households and then the supporting households,” Sharma explained moments after handing over his 2019 Audit Report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.

If there is more than one family living in the same house, only one family receives the grant in the first instance and follow up disbursement is done for the second family.

Sharma said his office was contacted before the distribution of the cash grants commenced and as a result, officers were assigned to monitor the exercise in Regions, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

“…also I indicated to them what I want at the end of each payment session, whatever financial statements they will have to produce,” the Auditor General said.

He further noted that persons who have not received their grants can contact the Audit Office for assistance.

“If anybody is having any issue [with] not getting their $25,000, feel free to contact the Audit Office so we can further investigate the present paying out,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, he noted that so far, his office has completed two probes into the distribution of relief by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the procurement of masks, sanitisers and other items to fight the spread of the disease.

“We have two [probes] –the cash grant that was paid, $25 -$30,000 –that report should be issued before the year end and we also had one on the procurement of masks and these other items that were done.”