{"id":821,"date":"2026-04-24T13:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/?p=821"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:05:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:05:56","slug":"information-technology-audit-of-the-governments-approach-to-disposal-of-ict-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/?p=821","title":{"rendered":"Information Technology Audit of the Government\u2019s Approach to Disposal of ICT Assets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Montserrat National Audit Office is pleased to announced that the I.T. Audit Report entitled <strong>The Government\u2019s Approach to Disposal of ICT Assets<\/strong>, was presented to the Legislative Assembly 3<sup>rd<\/sup> March, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government of Montserrat owns ICT devices that fall under the category of office equipment, and each government Ministry or Department is responsible for the purchase and safe custody of desktop computers, laptops, servers, networking equipment, external hard drives, cellular phones and tablets, their maintenance, and subsequent disposal.&nbsp; This review looked at whether ICT waste generated by the GOM were appropriately managed and disposed of through safe and environmentally sound methods to protect human health, the environment and the communities in which we operate.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Main Findings &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Secured condemned ICT assets. <\/strong>From inspections conducted, it was observed that there are adequate and secure storage areas to retain and safeguard condemned ICT devices against interference or theft by unauthorised persons, before they are disposed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>No national e-waste management policy or regulatory e-waste legislation. <\/strong>An initial effort to develop and implement an e-waste management policy and e-waste legislation by the ICT Unit, commenced in 2015; however, it was never accomplished. A second attempt was launched with the <em>Montserrat National Information &amp; Communication Technology Plan (NICT) 2017 \u2013 2021<\/em>, the <a>Environmental Health Department<\/a>, the Attorney General Chambers, and the former Ministry of Communications &amp; Works renamed BUILTE, were assigned to be responsible for the drafting and implementation of the e-waste management policy and e-waste legislation. However, it has been confirmed that these two endeavors were never started.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unacceptable e-waste disposal practices and activities.&nbsp; <\/strong>The Environmental Health Department indicated that the unsafe practices for the disposal of e-waste, have been observed around Montserrat, such as: (i) dumping e-waste items along with regular solid waste at the New Windward Landfill site in Jack Boy Hill; (ii) dumping e-waste items on sides of the roads, empty lots of land, and\/or in ghauts; (iii) locals scavenging e-waste items from the landfill; and (iv) burning of e-waste in the open. These unsafe activities are hazardous to both the environment and human health, as they can release toxic pollutants that will contaminate the air, soil, dust, and water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Draft and implement a national e-waste policy and legal framework. <\/strong>It is of great importance that the drafting and implementation of an e-waste management policy, and a robust national e-waste legislation for Montserrat, be undertaken as originally planned, as more and more electronic and electrical items that contain many different toxic substances are being brought to the island.&nbsp; Moreover, when these items have reached the end of their useful life, they are not being disposed of in safe and eco-friendly ways. Consequently, these national e-waste documents are essential for the protection of Montserrat\u2019s environment and communities, from the possible long-term negative impacts that can stem from the improper disposal of ICT devices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Proposed solution to managing and reducing e-waste. <\/strong>One solution that can be taken into consideration, is implementing the best practice of a <em>Circular Economy<\/em> aimed at reducing waste to a minimum; that is, materials are kept within the economy wherever possible by reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling. Therefore, the product is effectively reused several times, thus creating further value.&nbsp; Another solution is for the Government of Montserrat to implement a national disposal process for ICT devices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The report in its entirety can be found at the Montserrat Public Library, on the Montserrat National Audit Office Publications Page or by requesting an electronic copy from the Montserrat National Audit Office, located upstairs Angelo\u2019s Complex, Brades. E-mail: <\/strong><a href=\"mailto:audit@gov.ms\"><strong>audit@gov.ms<\/strong><\/a><strong>; Telephone: (664) 491 \u2013 3460\/4569.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Montserrat National Audit Office is pleased to announced that the I.T. Audit Report entitled The Government\u2019s Approach to Disposal of ICT Assets, was presented to the Legislative Assembly 3rd March, 2026.\u00a0 Overview The Government of Montserrat owns ICT devices that fall under the category of office equipment, and each government Ministry or Department is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=821"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":824,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit.gov.ms\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}