The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE executive committee of the Bahamas Union of Teachers will meet within the next week to discuss calls from some teachers for allegations of more than $1.1m in misspent funds from the pension and savings accounts be turned over to the police, according to Acting President Zane Lightbourne.

Auditors have been called in to determine if the funds were used for personal use, he told The Tribune.

Mr Lightbourne also said the committee is awaiting a formal report on a building the union is constructing in Grand Bahama amid cost overrun concerns of nearly $3m.

On Thursday, The Tribune reported that the committee had raised alarm over a reported procedure breach in which $1.1m from the union’s pension and savings accounts were allegedly spent for matters unrelated to the purposes for which those accounts exist.

It was also claimed that the money was spent without the approval of the union’s annual general meeting and without the knowledge and consent of the executive committee.

“We acted on the advice of our attorneys in connection with the matter,” Mr Lightbourne said yesterday. “There are other persons offering their advice, including teachers, saying it should go to police. We will have a meeting within the next week to determine whether it’s something that should be done.”

This comes as the fate of suspended President Belinda Wilson and Treasurer Lorraine Knowles remains unclear, with an appeals committee elected Wednesday evening expected to make a decision on whether to overturn or uphold the suspensions by midnight Sunday.

When contacted yesterday, Mrs Wilson said: “The appeals committee was nominated (Wednesday night) and they have to render their decision no later than Sunday. Once the appeals process is completed I will be willing to give an interview.”

The building in Grand Bahama is intended to be a convention hall for the BUT, used as a “multiplex purpose complex for weddings, seminars and conventions.”

“The building was bid for $1.3 million but we know it is going to cost way more at this point,” said Mr Lightbourne. “I can tell you that I have requested a full report for the building. We’ve been told from the president who has dealt with the issue first hand that the project will run us to some $4 million. I know some extras were not put in the original bid, but we are still concerned about that cost overrun. We are waiting for a detailed report to satisfy us before reaching a conclusion.”

Mr Lightbourne also appeared to express a lack of confidence in the union’s appeals process.

He added: “There is a flawed process of (the) appeal we need to tweak. Some districts, islands in the northern Bahamas, for instance, feel they should’ve been a part of the process since it’s for all members of the union. Furthermore, what was disappointing in the initial parts of the meeting is that some who have offered themselves up for election have expressed a desire to overturn the decision before having the facts.”

In view of this, he said: “We have been trying to find ways, meeting with banks and auditors, to fix the problem so it doesn’t happen again.”

Regarding the money allegedly taken from the savings and pension accounts, Mr Lightbourne said the committee’s investigations shows that at least some of it was used to cover operational costs.

“We have been in meetings with (auditing firm) HLB Galanis and Co and they will have to determine if it goes deeper and whether none of the money was used personally,” he said.

He added that the union has concerns that money was taken from the pension fund in contravention of union policy for the last “three or four years,” following the fund’s establishment in 2009.