SHAH ALAM, March 15 ― The Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 2020 on the Financial Statement of the State Government and State Agencies as well as the Compliance Audit of Selangor State Departments/Agencies for 2020 found that there were improper payments made by the Selangor State Sports Council (MSN).

Auditor-General Datuk Seri Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said the report, tabled at the Selangor State Assembly today, revealed that improper payments amounting to RM1.95 million were made to ineligible recipients.

The payments amounted to RM500,000 in 2020 and RM1.4 million in 2019, he said in a statement today.

Apart from that, he said, the audit conducted on the collection of quit rent on agricultural land at the Petaling Jaya District and Land Office found there was shortage of tax collection of RM404,978 for eight agricultural lots under the  "mukim” (sub-district) category.

He said the mistake in imposing the tax rate also resulted in over collection of RM36,248 in 2020 on seven properties.

He said all the heads of the departments or agencies concerned had been informed in advance of the matters reported in the LKAN for verification purposes, and closing meetings were also held to discuss the audit findings, and seek clarification and feedback on issues that arose.

 Following that, Nik Azman said the National Audit Department (NAD) had submitted seven recommendations to the relevant departments or agencies to improve their weaknesses.

On the Selangor government's financial statement for the year ending December 31, 2020, he said from the audit conducted, the NAD had given its unmodified opinion.

"Overall, the financial statement showed a true and fair financial position of the state government, and the accounting records were maintained and up to date,” he said.

Nik Azman said the audit also found the financial position of the state government was stable with an accrued balance of RM2.445 billion in its Consolidated Fund at the end of 2020, from RM2.141 billion at the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, for the balance in public debt, he said, the amount decreased by RM5.61 million or 0.5 per cent to RM1.105 billion compared to RM1.110 billion in 2019.

However, he said the arrears in repayment of public debts by the state government in 2020 increased by RM30.97 million or 108.5 per cent to RM59.52 million compared to RM28.55 million in the previous year.

 Nik Azman said LKAN was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on December 2, 2021, after receiving the consent of  Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and subsequently tabled at the Selangor State Assembly today after getting the consent of the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

 LKAN can be accessed by the public at http://www.audit.gov.my from 10am today. ― Bernama