The Controller Uncovers a Rosary of Mismanagement

The Controller Uncovers a Rosary of Mismanagement / 14ymedio, Marcelo
Hernandez

14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 28 January 2017 — What Cuban has
not diverted resources from his work place? Theft from the State
together with administrative negligence and corruption are among the
main problems detected by the most recent National Internal Audit
concluded at the end of the year.

Between October 31 and December 9, 346 economic entities from all over
the country, with the exception of Guantanamo, the province most
affected by Hurricane Matthew, were inspected. The 11th edition of the
exercise focused on the decentralization of administrative
decision-making, non-agricultural cooperatives and the application of
systems of payments for results.

Gladys Bejerano Portela stands out at the head of the process, the face
of the Republic's Controller General, created in 2009 by Raul Castro to
deter administrative disorder. The official has become a nightmare for
business administrators and managers, but her iron image does not seem
to be enough to dissuade the corrupt.

For weeks the controller deployed an integrated exercise by hundreds of
auditors, experts, students and university professors to find the holes
through which resources leak. At the center of their focus were also the
so-called idle inventories, vestiges of stagnation that cram warehouses
or rot under the tropical sun.

Since the beginning of this year some local newspapers have begun
publishing summaries of the most serious problems found by the audit,
but the national report still has not been released. Presumably the
entity will make an accounting before parliamentarians in the next
session of the National Assembly.

In the Cienfuegos province, the Acopio Enterprise showed "serious
irregularities in the area of accounting and in the management of
resources, to the point that three suspected acts of criminality and
corruption are under consideration," asserted Elsa Puga Rochel, head
controller in that central province.

In Matanzas alarms also sounded when auditors concluded that the results
of the inspection "reflect a disfavorable situation" that is catalogued
as a "setback" when compared to the same examination carried out in 2015.

In the Yumurino territory economic damage caused by the diversion of
resources, administrative mismanagement, corruption and other economic
ills are marked by "steady progress for the last five years," according
to Carmen Elsa Alfonso Aceguera, chief controller of the province.

In that province at least eight criminal acts were evident in four
entities, and "operations of doubtful characteristics" also indicate
four suspected acts of corruption in three of them: two in the
Puntarenas-Caleta Hotel Complex, one in the Oasis-Canimao-Villa Artistic
Complex and another in the Jovellanos Agricultural Products Marketer.

When auditors inspected the books of the Matanzas non-agricultural
cooperatives they found "deficiencies in income and expense plans,
problems with supplies and contracting with state entities."

In the Pinar del Rio province, the Aqueduct and Sewage Company, the
Electric Company, and the Pharmacy and Opticians stand out among the
enterprises with the worst results. The chain of problems includes
salary payments without corresponding productivity, aging accounts, and
poorly performed inventories.

In five Villa Clara municipalities there were a whopping 325 economic
deficiencies, and 30 disciplinary measures were applied. The controller
general herself travelled there in order to warn local administrators
that "internal control actions cannot be seen as something sporadic or
the work of a day," but must be taken on as "a form of human behavior
that does not allow tolerance of the least neglect."

In another of her interventions, in Holguin, the controller was blunt:
"Without organization, discipline and control, it is impossible to
achieve the prosperous and sustainable development that we have set out
for ourselves."

Raul Castro has been emphatic in suggesting that "without conformation
to an environment of order, discipline and stringency in society, any
result will be ephemeral." The official press has also joined the battle
against the diversion of resources, and in recent years it has published
many reports about illegalities and corruption.

Translated by Mary Lou Keel

Source: The Controller Uncovers a Rosary of Mismanagement / 14ymedio,
Marcelo Hernandez – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-controller-uncovers-a-rosary-of-mismanagement-14ymedio-marcelo-hernandez/