Lessons from Auditor-General's report must be widely shared

EVERY year, the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) releases a report on financial and other irregularities in public-sector entities, and every year it flags significant lapses that it has uncovered.

The report for FY2016/17 found three key categories of lapses: weaknesses in IT (information technology) controls, laxity in financial controls and inadequate oversight of development projects.

The first of these - IT-related lapses - was, worryingly, spread across several public-sector entities, including some which handle sensitive personal data of citizens, such as the Central Provident Fund Board. For instance, it found several lapses in IT security monitoring. The AGO rightly flagged IT security as an area of special…