The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DISASTER Reconstruction Authority Executive Chairman Alex Storr said UHY Bain & Associates, an accounting firm, will forensically audit the authority after an operational review found many signs of mismanagement.

“What’s clear,” he said during an Office of the Prime Minister press conference on Friday, “is that the Disaster Reconstruction Authority, while a good thought and idea by the former administration, appears to have been grossly mismanaged and hampered by poor execution, from the current internal structure, the extremely high salaries, the way contracts were negotiated, the apparent conflicts of interest and the lack of compliance of management of every project.”

Mr Storr’s comments came after former DRA Managing Director Katherine Forbes-Smith filed a lawsuit seeking contractual damages for alleged breach of contract. Mrs Forbes-Smith is seeking $408,333.16, including $238,333.16 for 26 months salary. She claimed she was employed on a four-year, fixed-term contract that would have expired on November 30, 2023 and that the government must pay her out of the contract.

Mr Storr said during a visit to Abaco, his team was disappointed by the work of the DRA.

“Shock and anger are just some of the reactions directors had while visiting the disaster zones and the projects under the DRA’s purview,” he said.

He said anything from the forensic audit that officials believe could be criminal will be forwarded to the relevant authorities.

“In terms of what we’ve seen so far, I will rule on the side of caution and the benefit of doubt and say that it’s just gross incompetence right now,” he said.

He continued his critique of the DRA under the Minnis administration, saying a pledge conference hosted in 2020 accomplished little.

Former Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Iram Lewis had said 49 donors pledged a combined $1.77 billion in value toward the recovery of Grand Bahama and Abaco from Hurricane Dorian during that event.

Ms Forbes-Smith revealed that year that actual cash donations only amounted to $109,000.

On Friday, Mr Storr said the conference was a public relations exercise.

“The pledge conference from what I have seen so far was nothing but a PR exercise done to fool the Bahamian people. The $1.7 billion, or however much the figure was, what actually materialised is nowhere near that figure,” Mr Storr said.