Sierra Leone News: Lands Ministry has not been effective — Audit Report
By Sallieu Kanu
The housing division of the Ministry of Lands Housing and the Environment (MLHE) has not been effective in ensuring that assessment and issuance of building permits are absorbed in all building projects across the country, according to findings of the Performance Audit Report by Audit Service Sierra Leone.
The Performance Audit Report on Assessment and Issuance of Building Permits by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and the Environment (MLHE) has been tabled in Parliament on Tuesday October 29, 2019, by the Auditor-General of Sierra Leone.
According to findings of the report, the housing division of the Ministry of Lands has been faced with several huge challenges including: out-dated legislations in respect of the assessment and issuance of building permits; lack of basic equipment and logistics to carry out housing activities; MLHE’s failure to prioritise resources for the housing division and lack of staff capacity, among others.
The audit covered the period between 2015 and 2018, with the main objective of assessing whether the housing division in the assessment and issuance of building permit effectively followed procedures.
The report reveals that in the north and southern regions, building permits were not issued for construction projects in 9 of 11 districts. According to the officers in charge of those regions, the low manpower, lack of mobility and logistical constraints made it impossible for them to cover those districts.
The report shows that building fees were calculated in contravention with the guiding Building Fee Act of 1993. “The funds lost to government due to wrong calculations amounted to Le178,560,579. There were also instances in which payments amounting to Le65,470,000 were made for building permits as evidenced in the register of the housing division but were not recorded in the cash book of the National Revenue Authority (NRA),” the report indicates.
Audit Service said in statement on Wednesday that the audit was motivated by several risk factors that were identified during the sector analysis phase, and key among these factors was the fact that construction projects were carried out in Sierra Leone without consulting the housing division that has been responsible for the assessment and issuance of building permits.
In August 2017, an incident occurred on a Hilltop at Regent where developers had encroached into protected forest areas on the hills overlooking the city, thereby causing a mudslide that killed more than 400 people. 11 years ago, the government attempted to prevent people from erecting houses in those areas. This was because building permits were not obtained, and the areas were considered dangerous for habitation. However, people were defiant, and construction progressed until that fatal incident.
“In consonance with the Auditor-General’s mandate and as a guardian Sierra Leone’s economic security, the ASSL undertook this performance audit in compliance with best practice of the International Standards of Supreme Auditing Institutions (ISSAI) and the Performance Audit Guidelines,” it said in a statement.
