The Audit Entry Conference, which is popularly known as Kick-Of meeting,
was convened on May 2th 2016 (Tuesday) in the Conference Hall of DFO-Lobesa. At
the outset, the Asst. DFO-Lobesa extended a warm welcome to the Audit Team and
participants from the agency for the meeting and apologized the team on behalf of CFO for not being able to make it for
the entry meeting as conveyed by the CFO himself. He also thanked the team for
allowing abundant time for preparing presentation for the meeting and said that
the Management is apologetic for all inconveniences that caused the delay in
executing the entry conference. Following it, he introduced himself and all
staff present in the entry meeting. He also cited the reason for CFO’s
unavailability for the meeting as due to his requirement in preparing the Royal
Flower Exhibition that is to take place at Paro shortly by the first week of
June.
With his greetings and formal introduction of the participants from Divisional Forest Office-Lobesa, the Assistant Divisional Forest Officer handed over the floor to the Team Leader to make a presentation on an Audit Entry Conference and its importance to the house.
In the similar manner, the Team Leader thanked the Asst. DFO for his words and greeted the officials and staff of DFO, Lobesa who were present for the meeting. With the introduction of the team, in his short presentation, he highlighted the importance of Audit Entry Conference as an opportunity to understand and familiarize with the officials and staff of the agency apart from understanding the business trends of the agency. He referred to it as a ‘Kick-Off Meeting’ that RAA normally carries out before beginning the actual audit as a general practice.
The team also shed lights on the audit thrust areas/area of concern identified for the period under audit apart from the brief descriptions shared on various types of audit the RAA normally performs apart from the financial audit, though the specialized divisions are available only in the Head Office, Thimphu. The audit approaches and audit methodologies were also briefly discussed to provide a basic insight on auditing.
Without wasting much time, he highlighted the scope of audit for the FY 2013-2014 & 2014-2015 by running through the presentation and explained that the audit of DFO, Lobesa is planned and it is as per the Annual Audit Schedule 2014-2015.
He said that any documents required will be asked through audit requisition forms and proper Handing and Taking over of documents will also be carried out on completion of audit. As the auditing is a time bound job, the team leader requested the management not to grant leave or holidays to key officials during the course of audit as it will hamper the timely completion of audit. The team leader also highlighted the importance of disclosing cases of fraud and corruption if any, as required under the terms.
The Team Leader also said that team would focus more on current activities as it represents about 90% of the overall budget allocation besides covering capital expenditure of the remaining 10% both in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 of the LC account. Apart from this, he expressed that the team’s expectations from the presentation made by the agency are to gain better understanding about the working processes and environment, procedures involved in plantations works, monitoring and supervision of plantation activities carried out, staff strength and the jurisdiction of the DFO, and any other important matters relating to the operation of the Divisional Forest Office which might not have been thought about by the team. Concluding the presentation on Audit Entry Meeting, he thanked the house and handed over the floor to the Asst. Divisional Forest Officer to begin with his power point presentation.
In his keynotes, the Asst. DFO said that the Management would provide every necessary information and documents wherever required to enable the timely completion of audit and said that all Range Offices and Forest Management Unit (FMU) are already informed of the site visits at various Range and Units as per the schedule of the team. He also gave insights on Forest Management Unit (FMU) and said Khotokha is one of the oldest FMU.
In his presentation, he highlighted on the background of the DFO, Lobesa and said it was established in 1stJanuary 1990 covering three Dzongkhags of Thimphu, Punakha and Wangdue and it’s one of the biggest Territorial Forest Divisions in Bhutan covering an area of 5,030.00 sqkms. The DFO, Lobesa is divided into 4 Ranges, 2 FMUs for administration and management of forest and it is further sub-divided into Beats and Sub-Beats with a total forest cover of 3,402 sqkms.
Apart from it, he highlighted on the priority in allocation of rural timber and said that the priority at subsidized rate is given to the local residents where FMUs are located and should there be any excess of timber after allocation, only then the excess timber is being provided to others requiring it. With regard to the patrolling trend, he said that patrolling are normal (planned) as well as ad-hoc. Normal patrolling is being carried out as per the plan while ad-hoc patrolling is done upon receiving information on illegal activities being carried out from the informers. During ad-hoc patrolling, the chief is informed through telephonic communication and if the case is of serious nature, it is reported and dealt by the DFO, Lobesa or else, the team leader of the patrolling team handles the matter.
From here on, Section wise presentation were made by individual section heads and continued till presentation on Revenue Generated and Deposited by individual range offices and units during the two fiscal years under audit (1st July 2013 – 30th June 2015). The Head of SFES, Mr. Dorji presented on the workings of his section. In his presentation, he highlighted on the Objectives, Procedures, Specific criteria/benchmark developed for measurement, Submission of annual report, Survival rate of plantations as of now and Major risk/constraints/deficiencies & weakness faced in plantation activities.
The Head of FRMS, Mr. Prakash Chettri made a presentation on the FRMS. Therein he explained the roles, responsibility and mandates of FRMS, major activities implemented by the section, timber extraction overview, annual work plan, progress and achievement, problems and constraints in Forest Resource Management. He also highlighted on the total quantity of timber issued for the Wangdue Dzong Re-construction Project.
On conclusion of the meeting, the Team Leader wished for similar support as in the past for successful completion of audit and thanked the participants for their time and patience. In the similar tone, the ADFO on behalf of the participants from the agency also thanked the team for the brief and precise presentation that helped broaden the understanding on audit.
With his greetings and formal introduction of the participants from Divisional Forest Office-Lobesa, the Assistant Divisional Forest Officer handed over the floor to the Team Leader to make a presentation on an Audit Entry Conference and its importance to the house.
In the similar manner, the Team Leader thanked the Asst. DFO for his words and greeted the officials and staff of DFO, Lobesa who were present for the meeting. With the introduction of the team, in his short presentation, he highlighted the importance of Audit Entry Conference as an opportunity to understand and familiarize with the officials and staff of the agency apart from understanding the business trends of the agency. He referred to it as a ‘Kick-Off Meeting’ that RAA normally carries out before beginning the actual audit as a general practice.
The team also shed lights on the audit thrust areas/area of concern identified for the period under audit apart from the brief descriptions shared on various types of audit the RAA normally performs apart from the financial audit, though the specialized divisions are available only in the Head Office, Thimphu. The audit approaches and audit methodologies were also briefly discussed to provide a basic insight on auditing.
Without wasting much time, he highlighted the scope of audit for the FY 2013-2014 & 2014-2015 by running through the presentation and explained that the audit of DFO, Lobesa is planned and it is as per the Annual Audit Schedule 2014-2015.
He said that any documents required will be asked through audit requisition forms and proper Handing and Taking over of documents will also be carried out on completion of audit. As the auditing is a time bound job, the team leader requested the management not to grant leave or holidays to key officials during the course of audit as it will hamper the timely completion of audit. The team leader also highlighted the importance of disclosing cases of fraud and corruption if any, as required under the terms.
The Team Leader also said that team would focus more on current activities as it represents about 90% of the overall budget allocation besides covering capital expenditure of the remaining 10% both in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 of the LC account. Apart from this, he expressed that the team’s expectations from the presentation made by the agency are to gain better understanding about the working processes and environment, procedures involved in plantations works, monitoring and supervision of plantation activities carried out, staff strength and the jurisdiction of the DFO, and any other important matters relating to the operation of the Divisional Forest Office which might not have been thought about by the team. Concluding the presentation on Audit Entry Meeting, he thanked the house and handed over the floor to the Asst. Divisional Forest Officer to begin with his power point presentation.
In his keynotes, the Asst. DFO said that the Management would provide every necessary information and documents wherever required to enable the timely completion of audit and said that all Range Offices and Forest Management Unit (FMU) are already informed of the site visits at various Range and Units as per the schedule of the team. He also gave insights on Forest Management Unit (FMU) and said Khotokha is one of the oldest FMU.
In his presentation, he highlighted on the background of the DFO, Lobesa and said it was established in 1stJanuary 1990 covering three Dzongkhags of Thimphu, Punakha and Wangdue and it’s one of the biggest Territorial Forest Divisions in Bhutan covering an area of 5,030.00 sqkms. The DFO, Lobesa is divided into 4 Ranges, 2 FMUs for administration and management of forest and it is further sub-divided into Beats and Sub-Beats with a total forest cover of 3,402 sqkms.
Apart from it, he highlighted on the priority in allocation of rural timber and said that the priority at subsidized rate is given to the local residents where FMUs are located and should there be any excess of timber after allocation, only then the excess timber is being provided to others requiring it. With regard to the patrolling trend, he said that patrolling are normal (planned) as well as ad-hoc. Normal patrolling is being carried out as per the plan while ad-hoc patrolling is done upon receiving information on illegal activities being carried out from the informers. During ad-hoc patrolling, the chief is informed through telephonic communication and if the case is of serious nature, it is reported and dealt by the DFO, Lobesa or else, the team leader of the patrolling team handles the matter.
From here on, Section wise presentation were made by individual section heads and continued till presentation on Revenue Generated and Deposited by individual range offices and units during the two fiscal years under audit (1st July 2013 – 30th June 2015). The Head of SFES, Mr. Dorji presented on the workings of his section. In his presentation, he highlighted on the Objectives, Procedures, Specific criteria/benchmark developed for measurement, Submission of annual report, Survival rate of plantations as of now and Major risk/constraints/deficiencies & weakness faced in plantation activities.
The Head of FRMS, Mr. Prakash Chettri made a presentation on the FRMS. Therein he explained the roles, responsibility and mandates of FRMS, major activities implemented by the section, timber extraction overview, annual work plan, progress and achievement, problems and constraints in Forest Resource Management. He also highlighted on the total quantity of timber issued for the Wangdue Dzong Re-construction Project.
On conclusion of the meeting, the Team Leader wished for similar support as in the past for successful completion of audit and thanked the participants for their time and patience. In the similar tone, the ADFO on behalf of the participants from the agency also thanked the team for the brief and precise presentation that helped broaden the understanding on audit.
Minutes by Mr. Chhimi Tenzin, Sr. Auditor (TM)
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