THE Ministry of Religious Affairs is conducting a workshop for its internal audit officers as a way to identify and detect criminal breach of trust in government finance and asset management.

Senior Administration Officer Pg Hj Anuar Pg Seri Indera Pg Hj Ismail said that any breaches of trust, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds and government property or wastage by any officer should be reported immediately to the ministry's permanent secretary for further action.

He said that through the workshop, they can identify and detect such offences early.

The workshop, which began yesterday, was a continuation from a similar workshop held last April, the refresher workshop was targeted at the ministry's internal audit officers, especially its newly-appointed officers.

Pg Hj Anuar said: "The responsibility and the duty of each head of department or unit is to ensure that every official and staff perform their duties and responsibilities with honesty and trust and they would adhere to the financial regulations."

He added that they should also take serious consideration of the issues raised by the Audit Department in order to improve their weaknesses as soon as possible.

Pg Hj Anuar also stressed the importance of establishing a contact person that can be easily contacted, to facilitate the auditing works with the Audit Department.

A total of the ministry's 60 officials participated in the workshop on internal auditing to gain a better insight on proper auditing techniques to make their departments more efficient and effective.

Conducted at the ministry's premises, the participants are divided into three groups, where they will take turns focusing on cash and return accounts, salary and allowance accounts and expenditure storage accounts.

Acting Deputy Auditor-general Matali Hj Md Yusof said the accounts were where they make the most mistakes.

"There are many other accounts that can be internally audited, but we believe these three accounts are the most suitable and appropriate for the respective ministries internal audit unit to work on," he said.

These classes provide basic skills and technical knowledge, so that they can apply it in their ministries to avoid any errors and miscalculations, ensuring that their departments' finance and assets management run systematically.

Each class is facilitated by officials from the Audit Department. The classes are also a platform for participants to voice their questions and concerns.

There will also be talks from the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Royal Brunei Police Force, Civil Service Institute and Ministry of Finance.

The Brunei Times