By Sue-Ann Wayow

SEVERAL state companies and some municipal corporations have not filed audited financial statements, some for about 15 years.

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) and the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) Company were just two state companies named by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Thursday.

Speaking at the post-Cabinet media briefing, she warned those companies to have their statements updated and filed when due.

Government will be considering offering an amnesty to allow them to comply she said.

The filing of audited financial statements are required to do done annually.

Persad-Bissessar said, “The state enterprise performance annual financial statements must be submitted, four months after the end of the financial year to the line ministry. State enterprises have not been keeping their obligations when it came to filing these audited financial statements.”

By law, the public accounts of Trinidad and Tobago and of all officers, courts and authorities of Trinidad and Tobago shall be audited and reported on annually by the Auditor General, and for that purpose, the Auditor General or any person authorised by him in that behalf shall have access to all books, records, returns and other documents relating to those accounts.

Persad-Bissessar said, “We cannot continue to operate like an open bank vault where government keeps dumping money into state enterprises that do not submit proper accounts especially when some of these companies are getting hundreds of millions in taxpayers’ dollars to keep afloat.”

Persad-Bissessar said CEPEP did not file in about five years but receive state funding of approximately $.5 million.

Caribbean Airlines have not filed in almost 10 years.

Persad-Bissessar said employees and unions involved with those companies also have a responsibility to press management to follow the correct procedures.

“When these companies fail, it is the workers and employees who suffer the most,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar also said many private companies have been struck off the Companies’ Registry because they did not file their reports.

 “State enterprises take it for granted that no matter what they do or do not, government will keep bailing them out because of the fear of political fallout,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar stated, “That cannot continue.”

She said government was willing to work with the management of all those companies to ensure they keep operating profitably.

Persad-Bissessar suggested that if the companies continue to not file their reports, “they may well end up not receiving assistance from Government in the future.”

The prime minister said her government was willing to take what she called “the political bounce” because millions were being unaccounted for on a yearly basis.

Proper planning could not take place for any organisation if their accounts were not in order, Persad-Bissessar said.

Referring to the municipal corporations, she said, “Every regional corporation has a number of years outstanding for audit.”

That includes both United National Congress (UNC) controlled corporations and People’s National Movement (PNM) controlled corporations.

The longest outstanding ones not filing for 15 years  were the UNC controlled Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation and the PNM controlled Diego Martin Regional Corporation, Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation – 12 years and the Point Fortin Borough Corporation -10 years.

Persad-Bissessar said Princes Town Regional Corporation was an exception with only one year outstanding.

She said, “It shows that these accounts can be submitted when there is a will so to do.”

Persad-Bissessar was asked if such companies don’t comply if there was a possibility of persons losing their jobs, she repeated that an amnesty was being considered.

She said, “I said, we are doing an amnesty to allow them time within which to comply. Should you fail to comply, then we will see what action we can take.”

Persad-Bissessar said when and if  the time comes to deal with the situation using  different measures, it will be dealt with at that time.

She also said, “I believe they will comply, they have been given extra time so to do. Let’s take best case scenario first before we go down to speculate.”