The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AS two union representatives called for the removal of a top College of the Bahamas (COB) employee yesterday, the college’s Council President Alfred Sears said mechanisms are being established to strengthen its fiscal administration.

Their statements came after The Tribune disclosed the contents of recent audits of COB’s Business Office, which highlighted a lack of policies and procedures for necessary internal controls.

The reports also criticised the performance of several employees after $12,563 went missing from COB’s Oakes Field campus last year and a further $1,720 from COB’s Northern Bahamas Campus in Grand Bahama earlier this year.

Mark Humes, president of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB), and Anastasia Brown, former second vice president of the Public Managers Union (PMU) responsible for the College of the Bahamas, told The Tribune that the auditor’s report confirms their view that the current vice president of finance (VPF) is largely responsible for problems with COB’s fiscal management.

They said the college council has not dealt with the issue despite their expressed concerns.

Mr Humes said: “The report showed that the VPF was grossly negligent in almost every area, not just one area. It would be unfortunate that at COB someone could be so negligent in their duties and there be no consequences at all. She was an understudy for eight years to the former VPF and should have had her act together when she assumed that post.”

Mr Humes and Ms Brown alleged that political influence hinders the college from taking certain actions with respect to some of its employees. However, they insisted that they have nothing personal against the VPF.

For his part, Mr Sears said the college’s appointment of an internal auditor, among other steps, reflects its attempts to improve its fiscal management.

“For the first time in the history of the COB, we have appointed an internal auditor who assumed office about three months ago to ensure that the council has the institutional mechanisms to maintain fiscal propriety of the institution and any allegation of misappropriation of funds will be investigated by the internal auditors who reports directly to the council through the chairperson of the finance and audit committee,” he said.

“This is a measure that the council took given past incidents which, when you look at the record, has been a concern not only of this council but of past councils.”

He said the council emphasised that external audits be conducted in a timely manner. “For the past number of years the external audit has not been up to date and the annual reports have not been up to date,” he said. “Before President (Betsy) Boze demitted office, I specifically requested that the annual report be brought up to date and as for the external audit, we’ve changed that because the delay in having it done was unacceptable. We have a new external auditor in place. They’re working on last year’s. That is a specific measure of fiscal management we have strengthened.”

In addition, he said the chairperson of the Audit and Finance Committee, Anita Allen, is working with the VPF to draft manuals and written protocols for the Business Office.

He added a part of a $30m loan from the Caribbean Development Bank will be used to bring in a consultant to help strengthen the fiscal management of tertiary institutions in the country.

He continued: “We’ve been pressing the Business Office, which is under the VPF, to ensure that we can begin as soon as possible for students to pay online rather than having to manage large amounts of cash. That is part of the initiatives to make operations more student friendly and to ensure the audit trail is always very clear and transparent so no one is under suspicion. We are working to put in the institutional checks and balances so that we have the confidence that the fiscal administration is efficient, is honest, is transparent and there is real.”

Mr Sears did not address the allegations in the audits directly, but said that measures being put in place are designed not to target particular individuals, but to “build the capacity of the institution irrespective of who the occupant of the position is.”

Asked if the Council believes fixing institutional flaws is more meaningful than addressing issues of poor management by particular individuals, Mr Sears said: “The Council represents all stakeholders. Decisions are made in the best interest of the institution and I trust the wisdom of the council and I trust that the decisions are done in the best interest of the institution. There are times when I have a position that may not prevail but I’ve learned a long time to accept the wisdom of the majority.”