2014-10-14
State-owned reclamation facilities are poorly maintained
Lithuania is situated in an area of excessive humidity; therefore, favourable agricultural conditions can be created only by way of land reclamation. About 90 per cent of all agricultural products are grown on reclaimed land, so land reclamation is a very important element of agricultural production and rural infrastructure in Lithuania. The National Audit Office conducted an audit to assess whether the Ministry of Agriculture properly defines and implements the state policy in the field of land reclamation and whether municipalities properly maintain state-owned reclamation facilities. “The Ministry of Agriculture has been failing to carry out all the functions assigned thereto in the field of land reclamation in a proper manner, and so the condition and changes in the condition of all reclaimed land and reclamation facilities is not known, which prevents effective planning of land reclamation works,” said Auditor General Giedrė Švedienė commenting on the audit results.
The auditors found that the Reclamation Facilities Privatisation Plan 2015 provided for in the Long-Term Development Strategy of the State will not be implemented, because the Ministry of Agriculture had not prepared the necessary draft legislation. As a result, the state will continue carrying an addition burden of taking care of the property, the benefits of which are derived by the owners of the reclaimed land, for an indefinite period of time.
It was also found that the assessment criteria given in the Land Reclamation Programme 2012-2014 developed by the Ministry of Agriculture are abstract, not clearly defined, and developed without observing the principle of hierarchy. Since no annual Programme implementation reports are prepared, it is not possible to evaluate the achievement of the Programme objectives.
The Ministry of Agriculture failed to ensure the establishment and operation of a graphic database of the inventory of reclaimed land and reclamation facilities. The amount of funds required for the proper maintenance of state-owned reclamation facilities is not known either. The Ministry did not assess whether municipalities estimate the demand for funds for carrying out the reclamation function according to the methodology approved by the Ministry.
The task of maintaining state-owned reclamation facilities has been given to municipalities. The audit found that municipalities cut grass only in 2 per cent of all drainage ditches (in the main part of the reclamation system), meanwhile one-fifth of the municipalities do not cut grass in such ditches at all. In the audited municipalities of Alytus, Pasvalys, Šilutė, and Vilkaviškis districts, reclamation specialists inspect and evaluate the condition of less than 7 per cent of the reclaimed land. The share of the drainage ditches inspected in these municipalities is less than 9 per cent and the share of the ditches mowed is not higher than 5 per cent, so their condition is continuously deteriorating and the efficiency of the reclamation system is decreasing.
The National Audit Office issued recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture to help shape more effective state policy in the field of land reclamation, implement the restructuring of assets, and reduce the burden of the maintenance of land reclamation facilities borne by the state.