The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE Minnis government has now stipulated that personnel dispatched by the country to any foreign workshop or conference must, upon return, file a written report that highlights the benefits or purpose of the event, or face being barred from further state-funded trips, according to Press Secretary Anthony Newbold.

The announcement came as the government authorised delegations and select groups to attend four international functions - the 70th World Health Assembly; the Meeting of Legal Drafters and Senior Trade Officials; CARICOM Human Resources Development 2030 Strategy and a technical workshop on Sustainable Development Goals - through the month of June.

Mr Newbold said yesterday that Cabinet agreed all persons representing the country at such workshops or conferences on trips exclusively funded by the government should provide detailed reports to their respective ministries or the country upon their return.

Of the four trips noted by Mr Newbold, only the 70th World Health Assembly, hosted in Geneva Switzerland and the Meeting of Legal Drafters and Senior Trade Officials, hosted in Guyana were exclusively funded by the government.

This announcement comes as the Minnis administration continues its push for fiscal responsibility and accountability throughout the public sector.

Since being voted into office, the new administration has authorised several audits forensic audits for various government initiatives; primarily Urban Renewal, Bank of the Bahamas (BOB) and the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI).

However, to date, there has been no firm price-tag presented publicly for the planned audits, nor timelines presented for their completion.

The Minnis administration said it was seeking to curtail unnecessary expenditure and the results of these audits will assist it in determining the way forward.

Officials have said that where persons are found to be in breach of the Financial Administrative & Audit Act, the law will take its course.

Apart from his comments on the new state-funded travel rules, Mr Newbold also disclosed that the government has finalised a $3m budget for repairs to be carried out on the Department of Customs' warehouse which was damaged during a weekend raid earlier this month.

Mr Newbold also disclosed that the Cabinet agreed to rent a Sky Bahamas warehouse facility in the interim, saving the country an estimated $600,000 in expenses when compared to the option of relocating the department's operation to a Gladstone Road facility.

Mr Newbold noted that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest, who is chairman of Sky Bahamas, recused himself from Cabinet discussions on the deal.

Earlier this month, Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin criticised Mr Turnquest for allegedly failing to disclose his interest in Sky Bahamas to Parliament after the government approved duty exemptions for the repair and maintenance of aircraft in the 2017-2018 Budget, an accusation the East Grand Bahama MP subsequently denied and clarified.

In response, Mr Turnquest said before the election he disclosed all his interests to the relevant authorities because he had nothing to hide.

He admitted that he did not realise the aircraft exemptions were in the budget until he read them in the House of Assembly.

Mr Turnquest also said Mrs Hanna Martin's implication that he somehow amended the exemptions to benefit himself was "misleading" and dangerous to his reputation.

On Tuesday, Mr Newbold also announced the 15-month extension of an interest-only payment agreement the former government entered into to facilitate the acquisition of five new airplanes for Bahamasair during its tenure.

The agreement, signed last year, ended June 15.

Lastly, Mr Newbold announced that several "environment wardens" have been appointed by the government from a pool of excess staff hired by the former government.

According to Mr Newbold, these persons are being trained for the posts with the goal of them being available to aid in remediation following environmental matters; the most recent of which, he confirmed, was a spill near Clifton as a result of the apparent theft of diesel from a pipeline between the Blue Hill and Clifton Pier compounds.