The findings of the Auditor General's special report[/B] on the 2020 audit[/QUOTE] of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order were discussed Thursday in the Audit Committee of the House of Representatives.[/B]
During the debate, which was held in the presence of the Minister of Justice, the Director General of the Ministry and the Chief of Police, reports were made by the Auditor General of the Republic, Odysseus Michaelides, concerning problems in the administration of prisons, which cause prison guards with psychological problems.
Specifically, presenting his report, the Auditor General referred to prison guards claiming that they can only work in the mornings, but not in the evenings, while referring to another case he said that a prison guard received sick leave in January 2015, and from April 2016 to date, he has been on leave without pay.
As noted, he was summoned twelve times to a medical board but did not appear, nor does he present medical documentation.
Moreover, in another case, police officers were fired because they were convicted of criminal offences such as theft, drugs, sexual harassment and other offences and at the same time received tips and other pension benefits upon dismissal.
The Deputy Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chrysis Pantelidis, said that it is surprising that medical councils, instead of only finding problems, make recommendations, which cause problems for the administration.
As he noted, "it is a fact that the Report records incidents according to which prison guards exploit opinions of the Medical Council, which are not limited to the diagnosis of health problems, but proceed to recommendations to the administration, i.e. they recommend which hours an employee should work, which hours he should not work and so on".
According to Mr Pantelidis, "all this caused an impression", adding that "the incident with a prison guard, who has been on leave without pay for more than 6 years, without even presenting himself to the medical councils, also caused an impression".
He said that the issue has been raised by all members of the Audit Committee and they expect to take the necessary actions, within the framework of legality, without, as he added, "never to wrong anyone, but also without victimizing the Service, the state and exploiting some loopholes in the law."
He assured that the Audit Committee will be in a constant monitoring of this issue.
DISY MP Savia Orphanidou praised the work carried out in the Prisons, despite the problems of overcrowding and individual sick leave.
She said that based on what the Minister of Justice has stated, "the recommendations of the Auditor General are taken very seriously by her own Ministry and they have already set up an internal audit unit, which is reinforced with a person, who has gone for training, to monitor and control this compliance, which must be in place by the Ministry, in relation to the recommendations of the Auditor General."
In addition, he said that DISY recognizes the efforts made by the Police in recent years, to modernize at all levels, but especially the building upgrade, which was raised today by the Auditor General, but also the reduction of overtime, which the Auditor General has noted in his report that there is at increased levels.
She also stressed her party's request that the building that the State Archives has been housed in should be upgraded with a new building, because as she said, "we believe that this is the history of our country and should be preserved in every way possible."
Investigation of cases sent by the Audit Office
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of the Audit Committee said in his remarks that he has taken advantage of the presence of the Chief of Police today, as well as the Auditor General, to ask where the investigation of cases that have been sent in recent years by the Audit Office to the Police for possible criminal offences stands.
According to Chrysi Pantelidis, the Chief of Police reserved the right to respond to this question in the coming time, to note the report of the Auditor General in the margins of this discussion, according to which since last summer, when he has sent to the Police the cases he had regarding naturalizations, there has not been any response from the Police to date.
"This does not mean that the Police is not investigating them. However, it came as a surprise to all members of the Committee that so many months have passed and there has not been any response from the police to the Audit Office," he said."
He expressed hope that the investigation will continue as normal for this case and all the other cases that are with the police from the Audit Office."
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
