The Tribune

THE employee and student unions at the College of the Bahamas are demanding to know whether there is truth to the claims that a large sum of money has been stolen from COB’s business office.

The executives of both unions say the disappearance of more than $12,000 has been brought to their attention, yet the college has failed to make a statement on the matter.

“The Public Managers Union (PMU), The Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB), the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU), and the College of the Bahamas Student Union (COBUS) are calling for immediate answers from college officials on the matter,” they said in a combined statement.

The unions went on to say they understand that as of Friday, November 15, one employee from the business office was abruptly terminated and would like to know for what cause, as no one has been formally charged or held responsible for the missing funds.

“We hope that the college, in light of its supposedly dire financial condition, is not trying to sweep this matter under the rug without a thorough investigation into and accounting for this matter, particularly for the stakeholders and others who have a vested financial interest in COB,” the statement said.

“The unions are calling for public disclosure. We are concerned that, within the last year, workers were being hired in the business office on a temporary basis without going through the customary vetting process that staff and faculty regularly must go through to be employed at the college.”

The unions said that for the most part, the decision about who to hire for these temporary positions has been left up to a particular college official – who may have been “closely associated” with some of those chosen.

“The unions find this practice quite troubling, with the past president of UTEB, Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, voicing her concerns about the practice to the chairman of the College Council on many occasions.

“It appears that little, if anything has been done and the unions now want to know how such large sums of monies could go missing so easily from the college without anyone being held responsible,” the statement said.

“There should be proper systems of checks and balances in place to ensure that the student and public funds that go into supporting this institution are accounted for and the college should not take this matter of the missing money lightly. The stakeholder unions of the College of the Bahamas want answers and transparency from the college in the matter of the missing money.”