FORMER Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin.
By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
TRANSPORT and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin yesterday revealed that Royal Bahamas Police Force officials are currently probing missing resources at the Road Traffic Department’s Abaco office valued at more than $660,000.
She told The Tribune that the issue came to light in a report prepared by Auditor General Terrance Bastian, which highlighted “accounting lapses in tracking the resources” like decals, discs and inspection stickers at the Marsh Harbour department.
The report, which is expected to be tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, found a deficit of $662,705. She explained that this is revenue from which the state would have benefited had the money been accounted for during the auditor general’s investigation.
Mr Bastian’s audit took into account a three-year period from January 2012 to March 2015.
Road Traffic Department Controller Ross Smith confirmed that as a result of the findings, three current civil servants are under investigation. A worker who resigned earlier in the year is also being questioned by police, The Tribune was told.
Mrs Hanna Martin said if it is found that there are employees who choose to steal public resources, the government would spare no effort to pursue criminal charges that will result in immediate and permanent removal from the public sector.
She said: “In that audit process he (Mr Bastian) ascertained certain accounting lapses in tracking the resources like decals, stickers and issues with the accounting process from Nassau into Abaco and while in Abaco.
“In the final finding he determined there was a deficit $662,705 which is the value of missing resources, revenue that the state would have gotten if the monies were accounted for. He subsequently made recommendations.
“I am advised that the police are involved. Our position is if people choose to steal public resources, and to do so in an area that involves other issues, if you are doing it off the radar, there is a wider issue that creates corruption.
“We will make every effort to take them out of the public service forever and go the full length to take them out of the system and pursue criminal sanctions.”
She acknowledged that there were systematic issues in the Department of Road Traffic that have created challenges in properly keeping track of the resources and creating a system of accountability.
However, Mr Smith explained that he has put in place protocols and is working on other measures to assist in better monitoring the department’s operations.
He said: “In June we put in place a number of measures to ensure that we strengthened the internal controls. So we appointed a committee that is really going in a new direction to ensure that we have internal control mechanisms in place that will be for the headquarters and all the stations and administrators in the Family Islands that do work for us.
“So we have done a framework to look at this aspect. But any time you have a manual system there will be fraudulent activity.”
Mrs Hanna Martin said officials are in the process of completely automating the department, but this will take about 12 months to complete.
Last week, Tribune Business reported that police were called to investigate the disappearance of $25,400 at the Freeport Passport Office, which has resulted in at least one official facing “disciplinary action”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in the police upon the recommendation of the auditor general, whose department found that monies received over a four-month period during summer 2015 were not deposited to the Treasury’s bank accounts.
The “special audit” of the Freeport Passport Office, which examined the 14-month period ending on August 21 this year, found that while its cash book was updated daily for revenue receipts, no such action occurred when it came to deposits.
Comments
jus2cents 9 years ago
Same ol' same ol' another day, another Government scandal.
Let's guess who is next- Post Office, W&S, BEC, Customs, NIB, M.O. Agriculture or Immigration?
SP 9 years ago
..... Poor management and under qualified, untouchable, corrupt political cronies .....
43 years of political stupidity fueled systemic corruption throughout the public service.
When was the last audit prior to this one?
$660,000 missing after an audit accounting for just a three-year period. How many millions have gone missing "under the radar" in 43 years?
When was the last audit carried out for education, health and security?
Has the PLP or FNM ever convicted ANY CIVIL SERVANT for pilferage?
WHY NOT?
sealice 9 years ago
they should be able to catch all the people - all of the decals etc are labeled with individual numbers - they know what's missing, Abaco is small enough to put up road blocks and look for the numbers then they have the theives, at least the people that are clearly guilty of receiving stolen goods. But all this sounds too much like accountability and the Gov't working to clean it's act up so lets just talk about it today, forget about it tomorrow and maybe it'll fix itself? right that's what we always do .... hasn't worked yet though.....
whybahamas 9 years ago
So what happens to me if I went to the big shiny new government building in Marsh Harbour, went into the Road traffic office and paid cash and received my license stickers like I've always done and they didn't record the transaction? I did nothing wrong, but I could potentially be driving around with illegal stickers.
asiseeit 9 years ago
This is what happens when those at the top have the management skills of a gnat. The civil service is eating away at our nation just as the politicians are eating our future. I am at the point where I think this country would be better off run by the private sector. 43 years of mismanagement, hiring crony's, and political tribalisum and what do you get, a country that is a shit hole! Great job! Typical post colonial failures.
banker 9 years ago
More of the same .. what else do you expect?
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years ago
Many of Hanna-Martin's classmates in her years as a student at Queens's College say she had back then nothing but a big mouth and little between her ears. Clearly nothing changed in her transformation to adult life. She's about as incompetent as they come and may as well spend even more of her political life attending weddings, funerals and visiting the more important sick PLP's in her constituency.
asiseeit 9 years ago
PLP = Professional Looters Party. Motto - We will steal what we want when we want, you can believe in that!
iamcitizen 9 years ago
We should not be so surprised as a result of these revelations…after all we live in a most corrupt society where politically connected thieves are protected. Whenever they are caught they are seldom prosecuted, They are simply transferred to another department or ministry.
A recent case in point: When it was discovered, late last year, that some $50,000.00, in cash, had gone missing from the Supreme Court receipts a Finance Officer, who happened to be on vacation at the time of the discovery, was arrested by the police, questioned and released. The officer was later transferred to another Government Department. Needless to say the officer is politically connected to a high ranking Cabinet Minister.
This was the second time the officer had been transferred for stealing. Maybe the Auditor General will have a look at the Supreme Court Accounts as well.
ThisIsOurs 9 years ago
Same thing happened at COB, the politically connected likely suspect was allowed to leave with full benefits. Still nothing on the politically connected thief from the Post Office bank. Mrs Martin promised an investigation there too...since then, crickets
Franklyn 9 years ago
A Bahamian proposal to fix the problems at the Road Traffic Department (at no cost to the Bahamian People) went unanswered. Now we are losing $$$Millions$$$ not just the $660,000.00 reported today, this theft by services has being going on for years at that department ...and there is a sense of encouragement by government official because nothing is ever done to fix the problems ...even if the fix is free to the country.
banker 9 years ago
The list is endless of what was ignored. A proposal for an automobile environmental solution was ignored. A proposal for the creation of a new knowledge-based industry was ignored. A proposal to create a universal eGovernment framework so that all departments would be universally computerised was ignored. The trouble is that these proposals were ignored because the people who would approve them, couldn't see any direct monetary benefit to themselves to approve them.
Franklyn 9 years ago
Please don't remind me of the PTI (Periodical Technical Inspection) of motor vehicles in The Bahamas proposal. This was embarrassing and a total wake-up call for me ...the experience, trying to offer a needed and necessary service in The Bahamas, was one of total frustration where you have to conclude that the persons in position to authorize project must not have the interest of Bahamians as a priority or of any seriousness consideration.
TruePeople 9 years ago
harder to teef with better oversight
ThisIsOurs 9 years ago
There are tons of bad drivers on the road. They don't know how to use the roundabout, they push into traffic from side corners, they turn into side corners in front of you and they push onto a four lane highway as if you're supposed to make way for them. These people have to have bought their license, theft isn't the only problem at road traffic.
whybahamas 9 years ago
There's no doubt that many have bought their license, but just because someone knows what they're doing is wrong, isn't going to stop them from doing it.
TruePeople 9 years ago
waaaaaa.... just after the passport office dem say dey get teef.... holy jhed. next dey guh say junkanoo get stolen, and instead of rushing, yll guh see red dragon dancing up bay street in stead cus the Chinese gone be the only ones dem with money after this gov't robb out us and itself to da bone
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