The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday called for urgent reform of the regulations governing the public service, arguing that they currently “facilitate” corruption such as that exposed at the Department of Social Services.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that so-called ‘General Orders’, which govern the public service, were a major barrier to either “terminating” or disciplining civil servants found guilty of wrongdoing.

“General Orders seem to promote inefficiency and allow wrongdoing without consequences,” the DNA leader said yesterday.

“Because of General Orders, it’s very difficult for public servants to be terminated for non-performance of their jobs; it’s very difficult for public servants to be terminated for inefficiency and insubordination.”

As a result, Mr McCartney said public servants found guilty of theft, fraud and other forms of corruption were frequently transferred to a different department or Government agency, where they could engage in the same practices repeatedly.

“General Orders causes those persons to be transferred from department to department,” he added. “There they pick up the same corrupt practices in a different department.

“General Orders must be considered, must be reformed so that we can have a public service that is professional, that competent, where there are repercussions for corruption and fraud.”

Mr McCartney continued: “Persons are reluctant to discipline or terminate those involved because of General Orders. General Orders allows for inefficiency and this type of stuff to happen.

“As it stands now, it goes contrary to what goes on in the private sector, where there are consequences for your employment if you’re coming to work late, and asking for monies outside your job.”

Mr McCartney said the fraud and corruption uncovered in the Department of Social Services by an Auditor-General’s audit, which was tabled in Parliament this week, was merely “the tip of the iceberg” when it came to such practices within government departments.

“That is one of many instances of corruption that’s going on in many of the departments,” the DNA leader said.

“It’s going to take a government that is resolute in its thinking to cause this country to get rid of these types of corruption.

“We have corruption where in order to get anything done, you have to give a person lunch money, even though they’re already being paid to do it. It has manifested itself over the years because there have been no repercussions.”

The Auditor-General and his team slammed the Department of Social Services for “gross negligence” in allowing $4.237 million to be paid to suppliers without proper authorisation, exposing it to potential fraud and corruption.

A review of the Department’s accounts for the 24 months to end-June 2015 found that seven payments, ranging in size from $365,212 to $909,810, lacked the necessary sign-offs from senior executives, leading the Auditor-General to criticise management for a “lack of accountability”.

Department of Social Services employees were also accused of shredding accounting records “to conceal” corruption and wrongdoing, including a fraud involving food stamps normally issued to poor Bahamians.

The report detailed how the department’s executive management informed the Auditor General of an incident in August 2015, where staff members used pre-printed food stamps - intended to assist 10 low income Bahamians with maintaining a reasonable standard of living - to purchase $1,134 of groceries for themselves.

One staff member was terminated after confessing to the scam, while another two have been placed on administrative leave amid a continuing investigation.

Mr McCartney yesterday said the system of patronage fostered over decades by successive governments was also responsible for allowing corruption and unethical practices to take place in the public.

Too many public servants had gained their jobs via political allegiances and family connections, he implied, rather than on merit. Apart from depriving the civil service of the best-qualified staff, Mr McCartney said it also left politicians “afraid to make the change because it will affect them at the polls.

“Politics has a lot to do with it. This country cannot continue to operate in that vein,” he told Tribune Business. “We’ll keep going down the slippery slope and eventually fall off the cliff.

“The politicians have to deal with it. I believe the public service should be more efficient than the private sector.”

Expressing pessimism as to whether those responsible for the Department of Social Services situation will face prosecution or lose their jobs, the DNA chief added: “That’s unacceptable for a modern Bahamas and the Bahamas to grow. We need to address these concerns.

“It’s very sad, especially when you are depriving those who are less fortunate. Those food coupons are for the poor and needy.

“Those people need to be brought to justice. I would like to see them prosecuted. When you do that, you need to be held accountable to the highest order.”

Mr McCartney said the cost of public service wrongdoing, such as that at the Department of Social Services, “comes back and back to the Bahamian people” in the form of higher taxes.