US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE28

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000028 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR OIG/ISP, EUR/NCE, and EUR/EX 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASIG, EZ, AMGT 
SUBJECT: POST RESPONSE TO OIG RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
REF: SEPTEMBER 2004 REPORT OF INSPECTION NO. ISP-I-04-39A 
 
1.  Prague submits the following responses to the formal 
recommendations of the referenced OIG report. 
 
2.  Recommendation No. 1:  Embassy Prague should request, 
and the Bureau of Consular Affairs and Bureau of European 
And Eurasian Affairs should approve and fund, an additional 
Foreign Service national position in the Consular Section to 
perform Consular management support duties.  (Action: 
Embassy Prague, in coordination with CA and EUR) 
 
Embassy's response:  Embassy concurs with the OIG 
recommendation and has taken action.  The FMO section has 
included the cost of an FSN-06 management support position 
in its budget forecast and will include the request in this 
year's MPP submission.  Embassy now awaits funding from 
Department to take further action on this recommendation. 
 
3.  Recommendation No. 2:  Embassy Prague should reissue a 
visa referral policy under Chief of Mission signature, 
consistent with the most recent guidance, and ensure that it 
is implemented consistently.  (Action:  Embassy Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  Embassy reissued visa referral policy 
in Management Notice number 31/04 on 7/19/04. 
 
4.  Recommendation No. 3:  Embassy Prague should 
institutionalize the required record keeping and audit 
procedures described in the Consular Management Handbook to 
compare machine-readable visa fee collections against 
applications received.  (Action:  Embassy Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  The Consular Section is now reconciling 
MRV collections with applications received, as required by 
the Consular Management Handbook. 
 
5.  Recommendation No. 4:  Embassy Prague, in coordination 
with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, should 
formally study the feasibility of reconfiguring existing 
areas within the chancery to meet Consular space needs. 
(Action:  Embassy Prague, in coordination with OBO) 
 
Embassy's response:  The Embassy has been working with the 
Bureau of Consular Affairs ("CA") and the Bureau of Overseas 
Buildings Operations ("OBO") for over a year on enlarging 
the Consular Section to accommodate growth in staffing, 
increased numbers of applicants, and new legislatively- 
mandated visa requirements.  The ideal plan for the Mission 
is to construct a new facility in the third garden of the 
Mission compound.  However, neither CA nor OBO have the 
necessary funds to cover construction costs, estimated to be 
approximately USD 11 million, nor will they have those funds 
in the foreseeable future.  Therefore the Embassy has 
devised an interim plan to enlarge the Consular Section by 
expanding into adjacent areas of the Chancery currently 
occupied by other sections and remodeling other areas to 
accommodate their relocation.  While this solution is not 
ideal, we do not have the luxury of waiting many years for 
the eventual construction of a new Consular facility. 
 
We have received from CA funds in the amount of $42,000 for 
design of the expansion project and are working with a local 
architectural firm on the plans, which are currently at the 
35% completion stage.  Embassy will need additional funds 
from CA and/or OBO to cover the costs of renovation and 
relocation to implement this proposal.  We estimate the 
costs to be approximately $350,000 and have requested this 
amount from the Department. 
 
6.  Recommendation No. 5:  Embassy Prague should implement a 
more active monitoring schedule to scan all user folders for 
inappropriate material and document the review of randomly 
selected user libraries.  (Action:  Embassy Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  ISO and ISSO Prague have implemented a 
bi-weekly random scan of user libraries, email, and folders. 
These reviews are documented in the ISSO Log. 
 
7.  Recommendation No. 6:  Embassy Prague should complete 
and implement the information system documentation 
requirements and provide copies of the plans to the Bureau 
of Information Resource Management.  (Action:  Embassy 
Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  ISSO and Systems Managers have 
submitted the IT Contingency Plan and System Security Plan 
to DS for review. The Configuration Management Plan has an 
anticipated completion/submission date of 31 January 2004. 
 
8.  Recommendation No. 7:  Embassy Prague, in coordination 
with the Bureau of Information Resource Management, should 
work to approve an offsite alternate facility for classified 
information systems processing and storage.  (Action: 
Embassy Prague, in coordination with IRM) 
Embassy's response:  IRM equipment and contingency plans are 
available, but the lack of an offsite location cleared for 
the storage and processing reduces their effectiveness. Post 
IMO is currently working with IRM and DS to resolve 
this issue. DS regulations regarding offsite 
storage/processing of classified information severely reduce 
the options open to post regarding storage of contingency 
classified equipment/operations. 
 
9.  Recommendation No. 8:  Embassy Prague should discontinue 
the practice of authorizing U.S. government sponsored school 
employees to use the diplomatic pouch for personal mail 
services.  (Action:  Embassy Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  Embassy is in the process of formally 
requesting a waiver from DPM in order to provide this 
service to the U.S. citizens currently working at the 
International School in Prague. 
 
10.  Recommendation No. 9:  Embassy Prague should enforce 
procedures to alert the Deputy Chief of Mission to 
delinquencies in the preparation of work requirements 
statements and/or performance evaluations by respective 
officers.  Such delinquencies should be noted in each 
respective officer's evaluation report.  (Action:  Embassy 
Prague) 
 
Embassy's response:  Embassy recognizes the importance of 
ensuring timely submission of local employee performance 
appraisals and has developed and implemented a systematic 
method to correct and prevent the problem from re-occurring. 
We now track performance appraisal due dates in our employee 
database.  During the first 5 days of every month, our HR 
clerk downloads a customized report of performance appraisal 
due dates and sends it out to all raters and reviewers, with 
a copy to the DCM.  The DCM is therefore made aware of any 
delinquencies and raters and reviewers are reminded monthly 
of upcoming due dates.  We anticipate that this new system 
will help ensure the timely submission of performance 
appraisals. 
 
HILLAS