five years late.

The Auditor's Report for April 1, 1988 to March 31, 1989 was released yesterday.

And it has some strong words on the way Government kept on top of money matters.

Auditor Mr. Larry Dennis states: "I am not satisfied that all reasonable precautions have been taken to safeguard the collection of public monies.'' He stresses, however, no cases "were actually noted'' where reasonable precaution had not been taken.

"In addition, no cases were actually noted where moneys appropriated or otherwise disbursed were expended and applied for the purpose for which withdrawal or disbursement was not authorised.'' Yesterday Finance Minister the Hon. Dr. David Saul welcomed the report, while saying it was largely irrelevant.

Dr. Saul said understaffing in the Auditor's department explained delays in producing reports.

The department was now up to strength, and he expected reports for 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 would follow reasonably quickly.

Dr. Saul pointed out he annually made financial statements, which kept Bermuda abreast on the way public money was being handled.

Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said he was delighted the report was now out.

He looked forward to more up to date reports in the near future.

In the 1988-89 report, the Works and Engineering Department comes under a particularly critical spotlight.

"Our audit procedures revealed a number of errors in the reported figures,'' the report said.

These included an "understatement of income of approximately $500,000''.

The report adds: "An accrual was not made for revenue of approximately $1,300,000 which was received in fiscal 1990 but was applicable to fiscal 1989.

"These errors, along with a number of smaller errors, netted to an amount considered immaterial to the overall interpretation of the financial statements.

"Therefore no adjustment was recommended or made.'' One problem with Works & Engineering was a heavy workload caused by the sudden departure of an accountant, the report says.

In addition, the Accountant General and the department were allowed to enter information into the computer without "cross-referencing'' with one another.

The report continues: "The Ministry of Works and Engineering has requested that an additional accounting position be established to enable it to correct some of the problems in this area, and to address numerous other issues caused by the significant increase in the volume of transactions it now handles.

"The system sends out over $6.5 million in annual billings. Therefore, it is imperative that corrective action takes place in order to ensure that appropriate control is exercised over a substantial amount of public assets.'' Criticism is also directed at the Contributory Pension Fund.

"As in 1987, there were serious deficiencies in the accounting records and in the systems of internal control over the accounting records of the Contributory Pension Fund for the year ended July 31, 1988. Accordingly, I was unable to satisfy myself that all contribution receipts of the Fund had been recorded nor was I able to satisfy myself that the recorded transactions were proper.''