Prime Minister Perry Christie at a recent press conference to discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Deputy Chief Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday insisted that the government had checks and balances in place to handle the $150m hurricane relief money it intends to borrow, as he responded to critics who have expressed doubt that the Christie administration is capable of fiscal responsibility of the funds.
Mr Christie said while there have been questions over how the government intends to manage the loan, these queries have ignored basic facts about his administration’s fiscal map.
In the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis called for the formation of a special committee to monitor how the government spends the $150m.
However, Mr Christie maintained that the money will be well accounted for using measures that are already enshrined in law.
“The government is seeking to raise $150m in government debt using the authority of the Financial Administration and Audit Act,” Mr Christie said during the House of Assembly’s morning session. “That same authority governs the expenditure of all public funds. So again this is a facility that is being subjected to the Financial Administration Audit Act meaning the auditor general will be used.
“A question was also raised with respect to establishing a committee to oversee the use of funds. It is for me to say that all public expenditure is subject to the review of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the independent audit of the Office of the Attorney General.
“All of these audits are tabled in Parliament simultaneously. So again before the government sees an audit it is submitted to the Speaker and to colleagues who are on that PAC.”
He continued: “The same process would govern the use of those funds. All expenditure related to this storm will be accounted for in the government’s financial statement on an annual basis with the presentation of the budget.
“We will forecast our expenditure related to this programme and in the presentation of the financial statement of the government in the House (and) the auditor general will report on the use of these funds.”
On Wednesday, Dr Minnis called for an independent committee to oversee the loan for the relief and rebuilding efforts of Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Joaquin.
While Dr Minnis acknowledged that the funds were needed, he questioned the government’s ability to properly manage the money.
He later told The Nassau Guardian: “We agree that there is mass devastation when we look at Grand Bahama, Andros, and New Providence, especially the south. There is mass devastation.
“We agree homes were lost. We agree lives were changed. We agree businesses have been lost and we agree that it has attributed to unemployment. It needs to be fixed. People’s lives need to be changed and their homes need to be corrected.
“But this government has a terrible track record of transparency and accountability,” Dr Minnis said.
Comments
alfalfa 7 years, 5 months ago
Negative findings by the Auditor General in many government departments have been ignored. So what is the value of Audit and Financial controls? The gravy train will roll for the boys in the know, and many necessary projects will remain incomplete.
Tarzan 7 years, 5 months ago
"However, Mr Christie maintained that the money will be well accounted for using measures that are already enshrined in law."
Does anyone else get a strong sense of irony in this statement by our P.M.? The same measures that permit unaccounted millions to disappear from government apparatus every year?
BahamaPundit 7 years, 5 months ago
When I heard PM speaking about safeguards on the radio, I turned it off in disgust. Does he really think we are that stupid. Are we that stupid? This man is making me feel like a fool each and every day I live under his rule. His words are now so infuriating to me. If other Bahamians are happy with this mess, then maybe I should just leave. It really has become intollerable.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 5 months ago
Did you buy his koolaid in 2012 about "Believe in Bahamians"?????? ...... We got what gullible Bahamians who thought that HAI was a dictator ......... now you got an old wishy-washy kleptocrat
Sickened 7 years, 5 months ago
I'm finally starting to get the PM's humour. "We will ensure that the funds are used properly!" My God that's a knee slapper. And... I understand his shows in the House of Assembly are free? What a glorious leader!!! 5 more years please.
TalRussell 7 years, 5 months ago
Comrades! The Rt. Honourable Prime Minister says nothing about.... First we must begin to fix a system to remove the incentive from those who will handle the $150 million hurricane relief moneys to be corrupt. It's called publicly expose, charge, try and put those found guilty on the damn bus up to Fox Hill.
PM, how can you justify the borrowing of another $150 million, when the "politically privileged" can well afford to repay the $100 million they have refused to repay The Bank Of The Bahamaland, pay their taxes, government financial obligations, or for lights from BEC?
PM does it matter if there may be persons owing moneys to the bank but not paying but still allowed to serve in your cabinet....Or the politically connected who have been appointed to various political positions by the PLP government?
sheeprunner12 7 years, 5 months ago
Where is the BAMSI money????????? .......... Where is the Bahamasair money????............. Where is the BOB money?????............ Where is the Post Office, Urban Renewal, RTD, PHA, EDUC, COB, NIB, Joaquin money etc, etc, etc ????????? ............ There are NO controls or accountability in our government/public accounts .......... that is why we are $7+Billion in public debt
BMW 7 years, 5 months ago
Bahamapundit i agree with you. To see or hear this crooked arrogant man is sickening. He really takes Bahamian people for idiots. His image and sound is intolerable to me!!!!!!!!!!
sheeprunner12 7 years, 5 months ago
You bought the PLP koolaid as well?????????
asiseeit 7 years, 5 months ago
I call BULLSHIT! Under your watch this nation has been plundered by thieves and you have done NOTHING! where is the 47 million from road traffic, the 10 million from social sevices, and the list goes on, you fucking asshole!
OMG 7 years, 5 months ago
Jobs will be given to the party faithful, there will be no estimates or competitive bidding and as for accountability, these guys couldn't get pay for a round of drinks without loosing track of the cost. Carnival-looses money two years on the trot but now we hear it was never intended to make a profit, and the list goes on and on and on.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 5 months ago
What you think gonna happen when the government cannot afford to pay the civil servants anymore because they cannot borrow any money???????
That is a real possibility soon ................ SMH
ThisIsOurs 7 years, 5 months ago
The PAC committee and the auditor general, CANNOT be the accountability that this government oroposes for 150 million dollars, they have said so themselves, THE AUDITOR GENERAL NOR THE PAC ARE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON THE MATTER OF PUBLIC FUNDS UNLESS THEY "ALLOW" IT. How is that accountability?
April 24, 2015: "HOUSE Speaker Dr Kendal Major was “shocked” and “taken aback” by a legal opinion the Office of the Attorney General sought from international and local attorneys about the legality of the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) investigations into Urban Renewal.
When contacted about the legal opinion, which The Tribune has obtained, Dr Major called the action “unprecedented”.
Dr Major, who has said he sees no problem with the PAC’s handling of the matter, said he would meet parliamentary clerks Monday morning to determine a course of action.
The legal opinion said: “While it is clear that the PAC, in the general performance of the duties allocated to it by the House may require the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, the purported exercise of power in the instant case if ultra vires the powers and functions of the PAC, procedurally flawed, contrary to the statutory and constitutional principles regulating public finances, and raises the spectre of interference with the constitutional functions of the auditor general.”
It added that the PAC lacks the power to request that the auditor general conduct specific audits of government departments or other bodies and that attempts to apply this power runs contrary to the “constitutional functions and special immunity given to the auditor general under the Constitution.”
PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman has previously confirmed that the committee asked the auditor general to investigate Urban Renewal and its Small Homes Repair Programme.
The report also says that the “PAC’s ability to send for ‘persons, papers and records’ may only be exercised in the performance of its functions, which are confined to examining and reporting on reports or financial statements which have been laid before the House.”
The report notes that the audit in question was not tabled in the House of Assembly before it was leaked to the media."
ThisIsOurs 7 years, 5 months ago
This is mind boggling
Mr Davis acknowledged that the project’s execution did NOT follow normal government protocols, a major critique of the audit; however, he explained that this was an intentional decision made by the executive to circumvent bureaucratic inertia and provide immediate relief.
Given discrepancies highlighted by the ministry’s report, Mr Davis suggested that Public Accounts Committee Chairman Hubert Chipman may wish to interview Mr Bastian over the veracity of some of the findings in his report.
What will they justify in the use of the 150 million to "circumvent bureaucratic inertia"? And then he suggested Hubert Chipman interview Bastian to see if the report was truthful. This is an attack on Mr Bastian's integrity, from the deputy prime minister!??
SP 7 years, 5 months ago
............................ RBC ‘Checks In Place’ For Friends, Family & Lovers! ......................
For once PM Christie is telling the truth. We can believe him 100% on this one.
proudloudandfnm 7 years, 5 months ago
Perry always says there are checks in place. Meanwhile no male dorm at BAMSI yet. 20 million wasted on a street party. Perry is friggin delusional....
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