OPA: Misuse of gov’t vehicles, lawmakers’ subsistence funding top survey’s concerns

The Office of the Public Auditor’s online survey of CNMI government employees shows that misuse of government vehicles and the subsistence allowance of lawmakers are among the top areas of concern that they believe merit an investigation.

According to the OPA survey results that were released yesterday, other areas of concern include equal opportunity education, misconduct in office, potential abuse of federal funds, misuse of government time, concerns over falsifying information with regards to federal programs, unfair hiring practices, and abuse of authority.

OPA said 154 respondents shared a wide range of responses, but most responses did not contain enough information to be considered an investigative tip.

OPA conducted the online survey between Dec. 6 and 31, 2021, on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. It featured five questions, one of which was which areas within the agency or program government employees believe merit an investigation. A total of 541 employees participated in the survey.

OPA plans to use the results of the survey and future surveys for audit planning.

To gain an understanding of the areas in which OPA can provide guidance and support to employees, respondents were also asked in what topics they could benefit through training.

OPA said the survey results indicated a wide range of areas and laws where employees expressed interest in receiving training from OPA.

Approximately 21% of respondents expressed interest in receiving ethics training that include conflicts of intetest, unfair hiring practices, political activity in the workplace, gift giving or receiving, and the “Do’s and Don’ts” of working in a government agency.

Other topics of interest across the agencies include information on OPA’s function in government; proper methods of safely reporting fraud, waste, theft, and abuse in workplaces; and Citizen-Centric Reporting guidelines.

Specific training interests include procurement and contract management, government vehicle and property use rules and regulations, human resources, salary rights, time and attendance policies, double dipping or working two jobs, public safety, individual agency’s internal policies and organizational structure, customer service, official government travel rules and regulations, MUNIS system, sexual harassment, and drug abuse awareness.

To better understand the extent in which employees feel they are properly equipped to successfully perform the duties for their job, respondents were asked to rate how much they agree or disagree with the statement that he or she has the proper training, tools and equipment to do his or her job effectively.

OPA said that about 75% of respondents agree that they have the proper training, tools, and equipment to execute their job functions effectively. Respondents were asked to explain their responses.

About 36% strongly agree, 39% somewhat agree, 2% disagree, 10% somewhat disagree, and 13% neither agree nor disagree.

When asked to describe if there were any areas within the respondents’ agencies that merit an audit, 215 respondents shared a wide range of responses.

OPA said 14% of respondents wanted to know how funds were and are being spent within their agency as it pertains to the annual budget.

Issues of transparency were discussed, along with the concerns that funds are not being utilized in the agency’s best interests.

About 9% of respondents voiced concerns with timekeeping practices, ranging from time theft and preferential treatment from timekeepers to a desire for updated policies for flex-time, telework, various types of leaves, and other similar concerns.

About 9% of respondents indicated an interest in the procurement and bidding processes. However, most respondents did not elaborate on which aspects should be audited.

Other areas of intertest include human resource issues regarding compensation, desk audits, official government travel practices, contract management, ethics regarding practices, preferential treatment of friends and/or family, misuse of government time, misconduct or abuse of power from administration or management, capital items and inventory management, and agency specific standard operating procedures.

As to the last question on what areas within the respondents’ agency or program they are most concerned about, OPA said a total of 312 respondents indicated they were most concerned with misuse of government time (29%), procurement and bidding (28%), preferential treatment of family members (26%), use of government supplies and/or resources (25%), contract management (24%), misuse of government vehicles (20%), official government travel practices (18%), and cash collection/handling process (11%).