Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribumedia.net
THE former Christie administration was “fiscally incompetent” and placed the Bahamas in a “financial ditch,” Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest (pictured) said yesterday while revealing the country’s deficit for the 2016-2017 fiscal year has risen to $695m.
This is nearly $200m more than his initial deficit projection of $500m. It is also $595m more than the former government projected, Mr Turnquest said.
Admitting he underestimated the extent of the debt, Mr Turnquest said the country’s deficit was adjusted because not all of the bills incurred under the former PLP government were presented when he spoke on the matter during the 2016-2017 budget debate.
In addition, the deputy prime minister said, bills were still coming into the government as he gave a snap shot of the hefty bills the Minnis administration is faced with. In June, $381m in taxpayer dollars was spent for commitments dating as far back as January of this year.
“Mr Speaker, I am willing to admit that I was in fact wrong with my projection of $500m,” the East Grand Bahama MP said during the morning sitting of Parliament yesterday.
“I was wrong. I was wrong, Mr Speaker, in the sense that I actually underestimated the extent of the debt.
“Mr Speaker, the problem is not all the bills had been presented. Yes, bills (are) still coming and I’m not talking $2. I wouldn’t mind if it was $2. I talkin’ big bills.
“The member for Garden Hills (Brensil Rolle) trying to throw something on me now and I keep throwing it back because I don’t want to pay it.”
He continued: “The actual deficit projected as of yesterday (Wednesday), Mr Speaker, is not $500m as I projected. I am afraid to say this number, but I committed to the Bahamian people and all those who rely on the numbers that I give to be as truthful as I possibly can. It’s only in being truthful that you can fix the problems that you have.
“But as of yesterday, the budgeted or the projected deficit for 2016-2017 is $695m. That was the deficit as of yesterday.
“That’s $595m more than the previous PLP government projected in 2016-2017 budget, absolutely incredible.
“I want to apologise to them and to the Bahamian people for under estimating the depth of their fiscal incompetence.”
To give an idea of the “unpaid expenditure” run up by the former government, which had to be paid by the Minnis administration, Mr Turnquest outlined several bills that were handled in June totalling $381m.
These included: $6.727m for office rent accommodations; $60m for medical insurance premiums; $14m for the acquisition of the Doppler radar; $2m for a contribution to international games and $16.338m for National Health Insurance/Public Hospitals Authority.
He also revealed expenditure of $1.445m for the balance of the radar payment; $100m for a First Caribbean International Bank loan; $3m for pensions; $2.8m for election expenses; $8m for Bahamas marine arbitration and Ministry of Tourism expenses totalling $20m.
Other June expenditures were: National Insurance, $2.2m; Water and Sewerage, $29.7m; salary arrears for the Ministry of Education, University of the West Indies and University of the Bahamas, $4m; food assistance programme, $4.9m; IAAF World Relays and international sports, $11.2m; Meteorology Office radar, $7.1m; National Health Insurance salaries $53.45m; salary increase for doctors $5.1m; beaches and parks $11.34m; arrears owed to cruise ships $10m; money paid to a famous golfer was $1m and Urban Renewal received $3m.
Mr Turnquest said in addition to this, there were also 1,700 job programme workers who needed to be paid. They are collectively owed $9m.
“Mr Speaker there are numbers that I have not spoken about,” he said.
“These are just some of the unpaid expenditures run up by their PLP government paid by us, which were not reflected in the Central Bank report and they have the nerve to ask why we could not grant free tuition at the University of the Bahamas.
“They have the nerve to ask why we’re not able in this term and in this fiscal year to remove VAT on the items that we promised. They should be ashamed of themselves.
“They ran us into a proverbial financial ditch and then they want to blame us for taking a little bit longer than we anticipated to get ourselves out if it. Talk about hypocrisy,” Mr Turnquest said.
The House of Assembly resumes on Wednesday.
Comments
Abrams 7 years, 1 month ago
Incredulous. When will the blaming stop and the FNM get to work and address the many issues facing the Bahamas.
It is sickening to constantly hear the previous government did this or that. Just do the job you were elected to do since you guys are soooooo smart with the answers for all.
Frankly, the electorate largely thinks the FNM has no plan other than to blame. Not good governance.
Stop being cry babies and get to work.
TheMadHatter 7 years, 1 month ago
It is time to convert our government accounting to the standard accrual system - instead of the current cash system.
Of course, Government will want to do this in one BIG project of revamping and spend tens of millions using contractors from Singapore (again) in our IT department, etc.
May I suggest a two-step process, whereby we use a program as powerful as QuickBooks is to ONLY DO the accounts payable side of our accounts (even though this may in SOME cases be a duplication wherever the current system does account for it). - and get a "feeling" of how this goes before designing the adjustments to the current system.
The problem has been left too long and is too big to be simply swallowed whole. The complexity lies not within the programming aspect of the change-over - but in the physical movement of invoices etc. That is what needs to be streamlined, and that is why I've suggested what I have. This is not to make light of the magnitude. Quickbooks is quite capable of keeping tabs on our payables (I mean those which are not automatically recurring like salaries) - quite capable indeed.
truetruebahamian 7 years, 1 month ago
Should Quickbooks be used, it would have to be adapted to an international standard of day month year in the dating system and not the odd month day year as only used in the USA and which is unacceptable here - or anywhere else but the USA..
Millennial242 7 years, 1 month ago
QuickBooks is not suitable for the vast transactions of a Sovereign Government. It's capabilities are designed for mostly small and medium sized businesses. Most companies that grow from medium to large actually have to transition out of QuickBooks due to greater issues/problems occurring as the transactions grow in size. If anyone in MOF suggested switching to QuickBooks for our nation's financial transactions...I would question their fitness for office.
DEDDIE 7 years, 1 month ago
I would not recommend Quickbooks either but it could be adapted for almost any enterprise including government. Remember there are companies that have larger GDP's than the Bahamas.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 1 month ago
Everyone knows the appalling state of the government's accounting and other record keeping systems and there are many in the private-sector who have perfected the art of gaming (swindling) the out-of-control system by submitting padded, adjusted or duplicate billings of every kind imaginable. The fraud here runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Accordingly, K P Turnquest and the Public Treasury should not be settling any bill submitted to government without first verifying that the goods or services were in fact received on the basis of a valid purchase/procurement order or contract and at the agreed/contracted price. And to put a stop to all of his silly guessing work about the true deficit, K P Turnquest should simply issue a formal public announcement that the government will not honour bills and other claims submitted to it in respect of goods and services received prior to 30 June 2017 if those bills and claims are not submitted to a stipulated official in the Ministry of Finance by a certain date with appropriate supporting documentation. K P Turquest needs to stop squawking about all of his overwhelming problems and get on with fixing them in a sensible manner. Otherwise he should step aside so that someone with the necessary leadership and management skills can be appointed to identify and implement the appropriate systems, controls and procedures to prevent the many fraudulent schemes that continue to take a frightening toll on the government's limited financial resources.
Reality_Check 7 years, 1 month ago
It is common knowledge that many suppliers and service providers to government ministries, agencies, departments and corporations deliberately submit duplicate and triplicate billings in the course of a month. They do this because they know that quite often the same bill gets paid more than once, with no claim ever being made for a refund of the duplicate or triplicate payment(s) received.
DEDDIE 7 years, 1 month ago
The bulk of the National Debt is moneys owed to ourselves. The Government burrows from NIB. NIB lends money that suppose to finance old age retirement pension. The money meets current obligation at the expense of future needs. The system is build on straws.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 1 month ago
Let's not forget that a huge and fast growing portion of our National Debt is now denominated in hard currencies and owed to foreign financial institutions. The National Insurance Fund was bled dry years ago and is now basically a ponzi scheme, i.e. those under age 50 paying in today should expect nothing coming back to them when they retire.
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Comrades! I've been told that as high as 25% per cent of the total US Dollars that comes through the banks doors is not being made available to the banks consumer and business customers to transact any business with those US Dollar funds?
There will come a time when the international credit monitoring agencies will rebuff further excuses.
screwedbahamian 7 years, 1 month ago
The News will soon come that you will need to have contributed to NIB for 100 years to be able to draw a pension from NIB. Of coures it will be retroactive to 1967 like our great PAPA did in 2011.
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Comrades! The finance minister needs new Hat!
You could've thought it was all made up - how the DPM/Minister Finance, actually said/meant to say, "My Dear Comrades, the nation's bills were still slowly coming into my office as the new red government's minister of finance tooks over reigns governing - so to give the people a 'snap shot,' I just decided to 'pull dollar figures outta da Hat'.... cause I didn't really knows all the amounts of the hefty old PLP incurred bills which the new red shirts administration would be faced with paying off." Please forgive your MOF, for doing da old project the nation's expenses - by not putting all the PLP's old bills - into Hat.... after all, I is only miscalculated by hundreds millions the public purse's dollars?
DDK 7 years, 1 month ago
Does anyone know who $60m for medical insurance premiums are for?
banker 7 years, 1 month ago
I smell another downgrade to junk+++.
The answer is easy -- stop the fooking spending, and chase down the thieves and get our money back.
Take off the helicopter helmets, and get to real work, instead of playing victim.
Make the hard decisions. Start downsizing the civil service. Cut to the bare bone. Do the hard things -- the things that you were elected to do. Otherwise you are fiddling while Rome burns.
We wanna see action, not talk and more spending.
truetruebahamian 7 years, 1 month ago
ABSOLUTELY!
birdiestrachan 7 years, 1 month ago
The FNM Government is responsible for some of the deficit, it is not as if they are without sin. When the FNM became the government in 2007 their Papa said the PLP had left the treasury in a good position. Their Papa spent money like a drunken Sailor. they left a 100 million dollars over run on the road works alone. They sold BTC for peanuts that helped them, they also benefit from south riding point sale. They should speak Truth and stop telling the Bahamian People lies. Because they can rest assured their lies will not stand Masterful liars that they are.
bogart 7 years, 1 month ago
Was the previous Queens loyal opposition not in parliament when all this was going on?
Bank of the Bahamas did get quick financoal attention and the Bank of the Bahamas which was suing the govt Central Bank of the Bahamas. Investigations should happen and persons if found guilty should be jailed. Two agencies cannot be right att the same time suing and the govt financialy steps in with the peoples money and in this case no public investigations and who is paying the legal fees.
Now that sums of the peoples money are being sought and the majority of the other sode not in power are gone one surely could not blame only those parliamentarians. Again investigations must happen and persons public servants if found guilty must be jailed.
It is stupid to blame a few dpzen MP no longer there and the civil servants who are there always carry no blame.
The same thing happens after each election for how many alternating govts over 20 to 25 years and if the new ones cannot pick up and jail those civil servants obstructing etc then what.
Somewhere somehow there should be some agency to step in and balance what any small opposition size cannot do. Like ombudsman, independent Bank Supervision and Auditing agency, stiffer penalties for white collar crime etc.
banker 7 years, 1 month ago
Loretta was a lightweight -- only in the brains department though. As opposition leader, she was a failure. How could a corpse stuffer know civics, and politics. She had no tertiary education in public affairs. The only letters after her name, was KFC.
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Yes, Comrade Bogart, Minnis,,'KP' and his "Rebel red shirts MP's. were very much in the House this past December 7. 2016, but rather than debate the PLP government's money bill, Minnis got ousted as official opposition leader. In fact, after December 2016 until the May 10, 2017 General Election bell got's run.... Minnis lost all interest in attending the House as a MP and the records will show that MP Minnis was a 'no show" in the House. Yep, 'KP' was right there in the House on December 7. 2016 - but refused debate monies matters with the PLP government? ( Believe me, you don't have make this Minnis and 'KP' stuff up }
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2017…
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2017…
BONEFISH 7 years, 1 month ago
The FNM needs to have a plan to deal with the deficit. They should have upon assuming office
.
AmericanSkipper 7 years, 1 month ago
$1 million paid to a famous golfer? If they have to have a famous athlete show up to an event, couldn't they reach out to some of the Bahamian Olympics athletes?
DEDDIE 7 years, 1 month ago
Bonefish you are too kind. How about:
Close or giveaway Bahamasair, Close or giveaway Bank of The Bahamas, Reduce the Public service by 1/3
banker 7 years, 1 month ago
Actually reduce by half or 50% is a reachable number if they leveraged technology and computerisation across the board.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 1 month ago
Bonefish & Deddie are on the right track ....... except that too much Government contraction will absolutely lead to an economic collapse in this present fragile situation ...... But should Perry and Halkitis not be held responsible for this fiscal fiasco?????? ........ There has been not a whisper from those two who controlled the Ministry of Finance for 5 years ....... Watsayu??? Who has the ability to invest in this economy right now?????? ....... Eastern Road Knights, the Sunshine Boys and the Numbers Cartel?????? .......... That is a dangerous oligarchy to sell the national assets to without a surefire guarantee of further investment and economic diversification ........ But we have seen what the foreigners have done ..... Cable & Wireless, GBPA, PowerSecure, Bahamar/CTFE & Renew have hoodwinked us to the maximum and held us out to dry.
TheMadHatter 7 years, 1 month ago
Millennial...respectfully you may be underestimating the power of modern day QuickBooks at the same time as i am likely not making myself clear.
I am only talking about medium and long term payables and their payment history. Rest assured there is not more of these than QuickBooks can handle....or else we would all be eating only grits 3 meals per day.
Not wanting to reveal my identity, but will say that i have expertise in this area.
These payables should be scroling on the TV screen on Parliament Channel at 10pm at night instead of funeral announcements. When i was in the CDR we talked about putting this and other such public information on that channel but i guess the people prefer non-stop funeral info.
Maybe they will be even happier when the IMF holds one big funeral for our dollar currency.
Baha10 7 years, 1 month ago
First 100 Days come and gone ... and NOTHiNG, following largest political gain in Bahamian History. High time to stop "blaming" and start "producing" and as for the Witchhunt, nothing of any major significance has been revealed and that what has will probably go no where.
killemwitdakno 7 years, 1 month ago
Save your numbers if you guys aren't ADDING, LISTING, or making GRAPHICS of anything. Just shut up. Ineffective transparency.
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
100% agree with Bonefish, but Dream on.
And I only say that because of the signals they've been sending us from day 2. The only way to turn this around is for FNM supporters en masse to tell them stop the foolishness.
The NTA for example is going full steam duplicating courses offered at BTVI, Bahama Host and COB. They simply replaced Marcel, who did an excellent job with the setup btw, took all her hard work to hand an unsuccessful candidate an easy salary. That part is the most disgraceful. It's these small things that tell you exactly where their head is. Appointing Macalpine as chair of the Hotel Corp, Adrian Gibson as chair of WSC. Romi as environment minister. lampshades at Social Services, either Miller who once expressed astonished that anyone could put a pamphlet together. 10 MPs appointed to government boards.
They are not going to rock the Apple cart. They want to get paid, distract the public with scandals and get reflected.
The next four years will be filled with National Inquirer type reveal after reveal. They will successfully divert the national attention by presenting the ?Bahamian public with salacious scandals. Do you know why we suddenly heard about a "travel inquiry". Everyone was scratching their heads wondering, where did that come from? Travel??? Well two days prior the scandal broke in the US over three cabinet secretaries piling up million dollar tabs chartering private airplanes. Some FNM politic hack looked at that and said "travel"! That'll stir up the Bahamian public too! Let's use it. And off we go, a Nonsensical travel investigation that will put more money into some accounting firm as agreed, and accomplish nothing.
FNM supporters its time to stop "asking/waiting" for them to present a plan, rather present a plan and "demand" that it be done.
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
"Lampshades at social services" ROTFL. I must spend more time editing lol
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Listening to the Steve McKinney Show on PEACE FM............... This is a really serious thing when even the financial pundits are struggling to understand how BIG the real deficit may be for the 2016-17 fiscal year. Athama Bowe should be hung, drawn and quartered as a PLP goon.
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
That's not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is that KP borrowed 700 million... almost 1 billion dollars! without understanding the problem. He admitted it...read above. I wish I had those two what's app big eyes for emphasis.
Our biggest problem is that Dr Minnis is appointing unqualified/unsuitable people to some very key positions. All because they are people he thinks "he can work with". We don't have time for dat. We need the best people in the critical positions. And no I dont have names, but I'm sure if you put a proper vetting process in place, one who's sole purpose is to find the best people, we'll find them.
People is our número uno problem
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Sooooo, who could have been the best Cabinet Ministers based on performance and not HAMloyalty ...... MOFinance for starters??????
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
I did say "no, I don't have names, use a proper vetting process". I could name two people who wouldn't have passed the first stage of vetting for top level financial officers. Anyways I ALWAYS liked Dr Sands ever since I saw him on gaming referendum night, thought he was thoughtful, methodical, intelligent, good grasp of the issues and to the point. He hasn't disappointed me so far....next?....uh the wheel of fortune theme is playing now....or is that jeopardy...
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