The Tribune

• Task Force head ‘very concerned’ by Parliament airing

• Argues that 8% administrative costs are ‘unheard of’

• NGOs owed ‘debt of gratitude’ for 10k weekly parcels

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The head of the former COVID-19 feeding programme yesterday warned of “a very real risk” that the Government’s audit of the $53m initiative will be prejudiced by premature disclosures in Parliament.

Susan Larson, who ran the National Food Distribution Task Force created by the former Minnis administration, said she was “very concerned” that assertions about an effort which aided some 54,000-plus Bahamian families were being aired in public before the audit report had even been completed.

Backing the need to audit the COVID food programme, as the Bahamian people “deserve to know where the money was spent”, she nevertheless said the auditor’s refusal to discuss her “terms of reference” from the Government on the basis that it is “a confidential document” had “raised red flags for me”.

Mrs Larson, who was reluctant to touch upon the Government’s audit as it is ongoing and not completed, said she had been advised that it was common industry practice for auditors to disclose the scope of their assignment to subjects - something that was backed up by financial industry sources spoken to by Tribune Business yesterday.

This newspaper previously revealed that the auditor conducting the COVID-19 feeding initiative probe is Kershala Albury, president and principal consultant at her own firm, ATI Company Ltd. Mrs Larson, meanwhile, said the Food Task Force planned to commission its own independent report - by an external party - once the funding was in place as the initiative has “a great story to tell” on “the tremendous good that has been done”.

She described as “almost unheard of” the 8 percent funding that went to administrative costs, arguing that this was “something to be lauded, not criticised” as it was almost half the global 15-20 percent average for NGOs. This, Mrs Larson said, had enabled the Task Force and its non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners such as One Eleuthera, Hands for Hunger and the Bahamas Feeding Network to divert more resources to food purchases.

She added that The Bahamas owes the participating NGOs “a great debt of gratitude” given that they were responsible for putting together 10,000-12,000 food parcels per week at the COVID-19 pandemic’s height in 2020.

“I agree that there should be an audit,” Mrs Larson told media yesterday, acknowledging the significant sums invested on behalf of Bahamian taxpayers in one of the largest social assistance efforts this country has seen. “The Government and the people of The Bahamas deserve to know where the money was spent.

“Our initial reaction to the audit was absolutely, let’s do this and, once we’ve substantiated accountability for all of the funds, let’s use the audit to determine how we strengthen the partnership between the Government and private sector moving forward.”

The Task Force chair said its work had to be viewed against the backdrop of COVID-19, and the urgent need to feed thousands of Bahamian families whose income sources had dried up overnight with the tourism industry’s closure and various lockdowns.

The food programme had to be structured from zero, and rapidly put in place, given the widespread social and economic fall-out, and she added: “Unemployment had gone through the ceiling, and the next thing that happens when people cannot feed themselves is civil unrest.”

Given the hast with which the Task Force had to act, Mrs Larson said the initiative was “not flawless”, and there were likely to be lessons that could be learned for the benefit of future public-private partnerships (PPPs) involving the Government and NGOs and “brought forward for the future”.

However, she added: “It was not a productive way to start the audit by saying the terms of reference are confidential.” Attitudes towards the audit have also likely changed among Task Force members and the NGOs, with Mrs Larson saying: “I can only speak using messages that I’ve received from the NGOs, and putting them together collectively. I don’t speak for them individually.

“I can tell you that in my conversations with them they want the audit to be over, and they are all somewhat saddened that there seems to be some level of politics that has filtered into the process. I can tell you from direct conversations with them, and can tell you from my own 30-plus years of experience in the NGO world, NGOs go to great lengths to remain apolitical, finding ways to work with every government.”

NGOs, she added, were especially keen to demonstrate to donors that funds are being used properly. Asked how worried she was that the Government continues to cast aspersions on the COVID-19 feeding initiative before the audit report is complete, Mrs Larson said: “Two-word answer is: Very concerned.” And, as to whether these allegations will prejudice the audit’s outcome, she added: “That’s certainly a very real risk.” 

Former prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis, and others have already voiced concerns that the Government is undermining the integrity and reputation of the NGOs and all Task Force participants, and that its actions will deter these groups from participating in future initiatives that will aid Bahamian society.

Mrs Larson yesterday said the Task Force had worked for the “betterment” of The Bahamas during one of the most traumatic times in the country’s history. Turning to the COVID food initiative’s administrative costs, which at 8 percent of total spending (running to 12 percent on Dorian-hit Abaco) have also come under fire, she said: “We were determined to keep administrative costs below what is found in The Bahamas and what is found internationally.”

Such costs typically run to between 15-20 percent of total spend, but on Grand Bahama these were kept to a minimum thanks to the use of government offices. “The 8 percent is almost unheard of in programmes like this in The Bahamas and around the world,” Mrs Larson added. 

“I think that should be really highlighted as one of the great strengths of the work of the Task Force that it did so much with so little overhead, and that’s something to be lauded not criticised...... What the general public needs to know is the administrative costs went directly to every NGO to support the overheads they were encountering by taking on the food assistance programme.

“The 8 percent and, in some instances, 12 percent and higher covered trucking, shipping and packaging materials and stipends, and some of the NGOs had to take on extra people. It covered salaries, it covered food supplies, it covered PPE. All the costs the NGOs encountered in carrying out the work of the Task Force are grouped together under administrative charges and that’s where the money went.”

Confirming that the Task Force plans to commission its own report on the initiative by an external consultant, Mrs Larson said: “We’re doing our own report because this was a precedent setting programme. The collaboration between the Government and private sector in averting a food crisis in our country is a story that needs to be told” to the Bahamian people and NGO donors.

“It was a huge undertaking,” she added, “and I really was in awe of the NGOs who rallied their supporters and workers to do what needed to be done week in, week out. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, NGOs were putting together 10,000 to 12,000 food parcels a week and getting them distributed. It was an extraordinary feat, and everybody carried out that work with distinction. Their efforts really need to be recognised. I’ve said it before: The country really owes them a debt of gratitude.”

Addressing criticism that churches had not been included in the COVID-19 feeding effort, Mrs Larson said this was incorrect and that they were “our number one community partner” and engaged in “many, many ways”. She added that some did not participate because they declined to agree to the Task Force’s terms and refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) protecting participants’ data.