The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development says it is far-advanced with the process of implementing a financial accounting software to improve the submission and analysis of financial data from municipal corporations.

During today’s sitting of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Deputy Auditor General, Marlon McAdam revealed that the number of outstanding financial statements to be submitted by corporations had climbed to 95.

He said this is an increase from the 86 reported last year.

Mr. McAdam attributed the delay in submission mainly to the ministry’s lack of a financial management system.

In response, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Marsha Henry-Martin acknowledged the failure to implement the software and pointed to plans to address this issue.

She was asked by committee Chair Julian Robinson about a timeline for the software’s implementation at all 14 local authorities.

Mrs. Henry-Martin explained that the financial statements of many corporations are outstanding due to missing records.

She was responding to a question by committee member Peter Bunting after he observed that some local authorities were behind on their statements by 10 years.

The Manchester Municipal Corporation was the only local authority behind by a year.

Mrs. Henry-Martin said Manchester had outsourced the work.