PHILIPSBURG:— June 3rd, 2021. The General Audit Chamber published its annual report for the year 2020 today. By law, the Audit Chamber must present a report of its activities about the preceding year to both the Governor and Parliament prior to July 1st.
The Audit Chamber is an independent High Council of State and is responsible for examining the effectiveness and legal compliance of the revenue and expenditure of the Government.
The annual report includes a review of the audits conducted and gives an account for the use of its budget for the fiscal year 2020.
Because of the financial difficulties in 2020, as a crisis measure, the Audit Chamber managed to decrease their budget with 14,4%, on top of a 14% decrease, prior to the COVID-19 cutbacks. Acting in solidarity with the public sector, the General Audit Chamber also decreased the vacation allowance payout by 50%, even though, initially, the legal basis for this cut was absent.
The Audit Chamber published several reports, such as the audit on the reconstruction funds for St. Maarten, the audit of APS’s 2019 Financial Statements, the review about digitizing the business license process, the 10-year retrospective of the General Audit Chamber, and the investigation of the possibilities to voluntarily reduce civil service working hours.
In 2020, a fully interactive budget cycle was added to their website. This function explains the steps taken during the process of drafting the national budget. The 2020 Annual Report contains links to our audit reports, animations, our Facebook page, and our website as enhanced functionality for the reader.
The Annual Report 2020 is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the General Audit Chamber (www.arsxm.org).
