Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says it is time the Office of the Auditor General is strengthened after three decades of being inactive.

Mr Lilo made this comment when contributing to the motion moved by Member of Parliament for Aoke Langalanga, Mathew Wale in Parliament yesterday.

The motion was “that Parliament resolves itself into a Committee of Whole House to consider the Annual Report of the Auditor General 2010”.

Mr Lilo said since independence the OAG was picking up and then it dropped in the middle of the 1990s due to it being understaffed.

He said this has forced the office to struggle to maintain its independence when carrying its audit work.

But he said this institution cannot be effective if its independence is not guaranteed.

“We need to find a way to beef up Office of Auditor General,” he said.

“Most people are afraid of Audit but it’s to minimize risks in the way we manage and perform in various organizations we work.

“It helps the system to improve,” the MP for Gizo Kolombangara said.

The Auditor General audits financial records and accounts of all public entities namely National Government ministries, Provincial Government, State Owned Enterprises, Statutory Bodies and Donor Funded Projects.

It carries out financial audit, assurance audit, performance audit and special audit.

All audits are conducted against audit programmes and plans.

They conducted independently without any influence from other persons or authorities.