The Tribune

• Ex-Authority chairman: ‘I put a stop to it’

• ‘Senior official’ picked up contract payments

• Report details lead-up to Rolle resignation

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The National Sports Authority’s ex-chairman yesterday said he halted the spending of $1.18m in “Hurricane Dorian funds” due to “the lack of clarity” on how they were to be spent.

Burton Rodgers, speaking after the Auditor General’s Office found some of these monies may have been misused, told Tribune Business he became concerned as to why the so-called “Dorian funds” were being put into the Authority’s bank accounts when they were under the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s “control” and it had no influence over their use.

The Auditor General’s National Sports Authority audit, which was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday and covers the period from July 1, 2018, to January 31, 2021, revealed some $856,000 or 72.5 percent of these funds remain in the agency’s accounts and Mr Rodgers said his actions in “putting a stop to it” may have protected the taxpayer’s interest.

For the report disclosed that an unnamed “senior official” in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, rather than the contractors involved, collected payments for more than $120,000 worth of work at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex that was financed by the “Dorian funds”.

The Auditor General’s Office also found that the three contracts in question were generated by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, with the National Sports Authority bypassed and seemingly used as a payment agent, and all deals signed by “a senior official” in that same ministry.

The report does not say whether the “senior official” who signed the contracts and collected the payments is the same person. But intervention was not limited to vendor contracts.

The Auditor General’s Office also found that “a senior official” at the ministry also directed the Authority to hire an unnamed worker - Employee B - at a $55,000 salary “along with other perks” despite the post not being formally advertised.

Although she is not named in the report, it covers events in the immediate run-up to the much-publicised resignation of Lanisha Rolle as minister of youth, sports and culture in February 2021.

The Auditor General’s Office voiced concerns over “the micromanagement of the operational affairs” of the National Sports Authority, and added: “Documents obtained suggest that circumvention of controls may have occurred.” It also noted that a contract was awarded without Cabinet approval.

Turning to the “Hurricane Dorian Funds”, the Auditor General’s Office said: “It was noted that two amounts of $590,300, totalling $1.18m, was debited to the National Sports Authority’s operation account on June 2, 2020, and June 8, 2020, respectively.

“The fund were received from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. However, an e-mail document from the ministry only indicated that the fund was for repairs without giving specific guidelines. The National Sports Authority wrote the ministry on June 4, 2020, to obtain instruction on how the funds were to be spent. However, none was received.

“An examination shows that the amount of $1.046m was transferred out of the operational account on November 25, 2020, to the capital account - a difference of $134,509. A further $190,212 was spent when those funds reached the National Sports Authority’s capital account, “leaving an amount of $855,879 from the funds that were received for expenses relating to Hurricane Dorian”.

The Auditor General’s Office warned that the way in which these transfers were handled “may lead to budgetary misrepresentation and line items could be misstated”. It added: “It is recommended that supporting documentation be sent when additional funds are given to the National Sports Authority so that the Authority will be better able to track cash flow.”

However, most of the $134,509 taken from the operational account, as well as $27,475 of the $190,212 in “Dorian funds” removed from the capital account, were embroiled in the three questionable contracts issued to repair Grand Bahama’s multi-purpose sports complex in the Category Five storm’s wake. The modus operandi employed for each was exactly the same.

Employing the exact same language for each, the Auditor General’s Office said: “It was noted that this contract was generated through the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, with the paper work being forwarded to the National Sports Authority to make the disbursements.

“We were informed that the procurement process would have been handled by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; the National Sports Authority received documents related to the contract that was signed by a senior official of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

“It was noted that all cheques were paid in individual names rather than the company name, and were collected by senior official of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.” The contractors involved were not named, and simply referred to as Vendor A, Vendor B and Vendor C with contracts worth $48,304, $49,700 and $22,600, respectively.

Other problematic contracts identified by the Auditor General’s Office included a five-year contract, with a $45,600 annual payment, for a vendor to provide landscaping services to the National Tennis Centre even though this was not included in the assets that the National Sports Authority managed.

“We noted that a procurement exercise was not conducted,” the report said. “The National Sports Authority management team nor the Board was involved in the selection of this vendor. We were informed that a contract was prepared between the Authority and the company with instructions for the general manager and the chairman to agree to the terms and conditions of the contract.”

A similar situation occurred with a $168,000 contract awarded to “Vendor E”. The Auditor General’s Office added: “The contract was prepared by a senior official of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, and the chairman directed to sign without Board approval. It was noted that the contractor was not registered on the Ministry of Works pre-qualification contractors list.”

Backed by the Auditor General’s findings, Mr Rodgers said he and the National Sports Authority’s general manager, Quinton Brennen, had twice been unsuccessful in their efforts to meet with the Grand Bahama sports complex contractors and inspect their work. He added that he did not know who they were, or their work, as the “Dorian funds” were controlled by the ministry.

“I said none of that money was to be spent until we had direction and clarity on what it was to be spent on,” Mr Rodgers told Tribune Business. “Those funds were classified as Dorian funds under the guidance of the minister and Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

“We had no control over how those funds were to be spent. All directives on how those funds were to be spent came from the ministry and the minister [Mrs Rolle]. They had full control. Only about $200,000 was spent on contracts. I gave a directive that we are spending none of that money without clarity as to what it’s for and what it is to be spent on.

“I asked: ‘Why are we handling funds supposed to be controlled by the ministry? I have a problem with this. Why are you giving us the money?’ I requested that the Auditor General come in so that everything was above board and presentable. The Dorian funds were controlled by the minister and the ministry. I put a stop to it when no documents emerged to justify that spend.”

Mr Rodgers, giving an insight into the issues that may have led to Mrs Rolle’s resignation, revealed that he and the general manager had “refused to sign” contracts placed before them that they knew nothing about. He added that vendor contracts were “being generated” on National Sports Authority “letterhead” that neither he nor other Board members knew existed until put before them.

Tribune Business understands that Mrs Rolle resigned after concerns were expressed that contracts worth several hundred thousand dollars had been written-up without any supporting documents to justify the amount of spending, the vendor selection and the project in question.

The Board and ministry officials became concerned that established processes and procedures were allegedly not being followed, and they took their concerns to then-prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis on Saturday, February 13.

Dr Minnis is said to have then immediately requested a “lockdown” of the ministry, ordering that no cheques or contracts be issued. The following day, he asked then-financial secretary, Marlon Johnson, to launch an audit into the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and to report its findings within four days.