An independent senator has raised concerns about government entities that have not had their books audited for years.

John Wight spoke on a report by Heather Thomas, the Auditor-General, tabled in the Senate yesterday: The Auditor-General’s Report on the Implementation of Recommendations from Selected Government-Related Entities.

Mr Wight said he had read the report “with interest and concern”, noting the length of time government entities had gone without independent audits and government failing to act on recommendations from the Auditor-General’s office.

He drew attention to the Contributory Pension Fund, which has not had an audit since 2012, as previously reported in The Royal Gazette.

He said: “The report that Heather Thomas prepared last month referenced issues with these entities that hold assets entrusted to them of $2.4 billion.

“What concerned me most about the findings in the report are two-fold. Firstly, the number of entities with independent audits in arrears often with qualified or adverse audit opinions, which is not good.

“Secondly, several of Ms Thomas’s observations were not acted upon on a timely basis. Approximately two-thirds of these entities have either material or material and pervasive misstatements.

“Also of concern to me was the number of years that the ministries had allowed these entities to go without being audited.

“The Contributory Pension Fund has not had an audit since March 2012, and all audited opinions from 2005 to 2012 resulted in disclaimers of audit opinions: ie there isn’t enough information for the Auditor-General to provide an opinion on for which $1.6 billion are trusted for the benefit for hard-working Bermudians to retire on.

“The CPF isn’t the only entity going back ten plus years, so is the Public Service Superannuation Fund and the Government Employee Health Insurance Fund, several others are more than five years in arrears.”

Mr Wight said it was equally concerning to him that the recommendations of Ms Thomas were not followed.

He said it was not his intention to embarrass entities in the report but rather to highlight that as a country Bermuda could not allow this to continue.

“Strong governance is the foundation for a well-respected jurisdiction and Bermuda is no different,” he said.

“Having raised this issue for the need for improved government governance, which I believe is essential if Bermuda wants to remain at the forefront of respected jurisdictions, is what needs to come next?

“In conducting my research on what other Western countries have focused on to improve their governance, the common theme was a focus on accountability and transparency. Some countries, like Canada in 2003, went as far as creating an independent commission to advise the government of the day as to what rules and protocols needed to be put in place to improve the governance.

“Whatever the action taken in Bermuda, one thing is certain — we can’t turn a blind eye to this, do nothing and allow it to continue.”