The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Parliament’s spending watchdog plans to grill the Ministry of Finance’s top official next Tuesday over “a range of hot button issues” uncovered by recently-completed investigations from the Auditor General.

Michael Pintard, the Free National Movement (FNM) leader, yesterday told Tribune Business that the Opposition-controlled Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will interview Simon Wilson, the financial secretary, on the findings of the 2021 audit of the Government’s financial accounts plus the reports on the 2023 CARIFTA track and field championships and the Bahamas Jubilee Games.

Asserting that the Auditor General had identified “clear breaches” of the Public Finance Management Act, the main law that governs how the Government operates and manages its financial affairs, he added that the Committee was especially interested to discover why lessons were seemingly not being learned given that these violations keep occurring.

And, promising that Parliament’s spending watchdog is “pushing through” and “making progress”, Mr Pintard told this newspaper that it is on pace to lay the first of its reports - an inquiry into the Consumer Protection Commission’s chosen rented office space - in the House of Assembly next month. He added that the reports on CARIFTA and the Bahamas Jubilee Games will follow “shortly thereafter”.

Confirming that the Committee’s interview of Mr Wilson has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, having originally been due to take place yesterday, Mr Pintard confirmed it will cover multiple Auditor General reports previously laid in Parliament including the 2021 assessment of the Government’s accounts “and all matters related to that, including the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA)”. 

That is a period when the Minnis administration, whose Cabinet he sat in, were in office. “We will cover a range of hot button issues and also look at CARIFTA and the Bahamas Jubilee Games, where the Auditor General’s findings unveiled clear discrepancies,” Mr Pintard told Tribune Business. 

“We think there’s some tough questions he [Mr Wilson] will have to answer given the pivotal role he plays in overseeing some of the key decisions of the Government as it relates to the Public Finance Management Act. There were clear breaches and we haven’t seen corrective measures put in place.

“Some of those reports have gaps of months between them, and yet we see the same infractions, highlighting why - after substantial time between these reports - these oversights, these irregularities, these infractions of the Public Finance Management Act... why are their continuing to occur? Is it neglect, is it woeful or is the decision simply not to comply with what’s in the law?”

Speaking to the Committee’s progress, Mr Pintard said: “We are pushing. We have had a number of significant interviews already. We are making progress and have multiple reports to lay in the House of Assembly and will share the content with the public. We are pushing through, and our meetings are frequent and they will continue to be.

“One of the reports is substantially complete. We have to do the final vetting, and hopefully we will lay it in the month of April. In April we will lay that first report. That’s the Consumer Protection Commission’s rental of that building it’s in. We’ve done the bulk of the inquiries on CARIFTA and the Bahamas Jubilee Games, and expect those will follow shortly thereafter.

“The financial secretary is the principal person we have to interview now. We have met with the chief executive of the local organising committee [Lynden Maycock], at least three permanent secretaries associated with these events one way or another, chief financial officers and have had a wide range of consultation on these matters.” The permanent secretaries included Cora Bain-Colebrooke and Harrison Thompson.

Bahamian taxpayers incurred an extra $7m bill to cover cost overruns for the 50th CARIFTA track and field championships and Bahamas Jubilee Games, the Auditor General’s report revealed. The Government overshot its upgraded $4.9m spending allocation through a near-total $12m outlay on the two events.

This $7m overrun occurred despite the Government, in its 2002-2023 supplementary Budget, more than doubling spending on the Bahamas Jubilee Games from the original $1.5m to $3.5m - an increase of $2m. CARIFTA expenditure was also increased, albeit by a more modest $400,000, to take it from an initial $1m to $1.4m in the same 2022-2023 fiscal year.

However, even these increases proved woefully insufficient to cover the Government’s ultimate outlays, which came to $5.559m for the Bahamas Jubilee Games and $6.43m for hosting the regional CARIFTA championships.

When the figures are combined, the total $11.989m total exceeds the $4.9m supplementary Budget allocation by more than $7m or 145 percent - meaning the spend is more than double what was predicted. And the Auditor General’s Office, in its CARIFTA report, reveals that the net loss, or deficit, incurred by The Bahamas from hosting the event was almost 20 times’ what was forecast.

The CARIFTA Games Company Ltd, which was incorporated to oversee the event’s planning and hosting, had predicted a modest $42,060 loss but this, in reality, turned out to be 1,972.9 percent greater at $829,821. This resulted in the deficit being some $787,761 higher than expected.

The report shows that the Government, which had already provided some $5.279m in funding through the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, was forced to further dip into the taxpayer well and come up with another $1.151m to cover “outstanding bills” due to Bahamian vendors and event staff. This brought its total CARIFTA spend to $6.43m.

Mario Bowleg, minister of youth, sports and culture, countered that the CARIFTA games generated a $185,503 “net surplus” even though this was only made possible by a taxpayer subsidy more than four times’ higher than budgeted.

The CARIFTA Games Company’s financial statements, which then had yet to be tested and verified for accuracy by an independent external auditor, showed this “surplus” was only made possible via a $6.433m subsidy provided by the Government using Bahamian taxpayer dollars.

Without such a contribution from the Public Treasury, the championships and event organiser would have incurred a near-$6.25m loss or net deficit. Mr Bowleg, though, took a different position by stating: “This financial report clearly indicates the CARIFTA games ended successfully in a surplus of $185,000, and not a deficit of $800,000. This settles the matter of any overspending.”

Meanwhile, the Committee’s inquiry into the Consumer Protection Commission’s new rental offices was triggered after the agency’s deputy chairman, Tyrone “Rock” Morris”, approached it and voiced concern that the required protocols and procedures over the lease agreement had not been followed.

This, though, was denied by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which said: “The Government of The Bahamas’ acquisition of appropriate and proper physical accommodations for its agencies, as well as the execution of lease agreements, conforms to all policy and procedures as mandated by the Ministry of the Public Service.

“The lease agreement relating to the new physical accommodations of the Consumer Protection Commission and the Consumer Affairs Unit was executed in conformity with the established protocols. The details of outfitting for occupancy are guided and implemented by these same protocols and policies.

“The minister of economic affairs, Michael B Halkitis, states emphatically and unequivocally that he does not now own nor hold, nor has he previously owned or held any interest, in any property being leased by the Government of The Bahamas or any of its agencies.”