The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Chief Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemdia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and former Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield were at odds yesterday over spending that took place under their administration to furnish and decorate an ambassador’s residence in Brussels, Belgium.

On Tuesday at Parliament, Labour and Immigration Minister Keith Bell revealed that a total of more than $1m had been spent, calling it an “indiscriminate callous haemorrhage” of the public purse. This included monthly accommodations in a hotel for an ambassador at a cost $20,000 per month, while the furniture and decor cost the government $550,000.

 Yesterday, while Mr Henfield said this level of spending was “indefensible” he said he had no idea it had gone on.

 Dr Minnis meanwhile said Mr Bell had been “totally disingenuous” in making the accusations. Dr Minnis said Brussels was an expensive place and the ambassador would not have acted outside of established protocols by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said ambassadors did not have access to money. He also said ambassadors live in hotels until proper permanent accommodations are found. These hotels, he said, must have a certain standard of security among other things.

 For his part, Official Opposition leader Michael Pintard said ambassadors are unable to approve funding and questioned who approved the spending.

 While Mr Bell did not name the ambassador, Dr Minnis identified Maria O’Brien as the official. She was appointed ambassador to Belgium and head of mission to the European Union under the Minnis administration.

 The Killarney MP explained the rationale for the expenditure.

 He told The Tribune yesterday: “Governments put together budgets, governments have policies, and they have protocols. Ambassadors themselves don’t spend money like that. They don’t have access to money. When individuals travel, they’re placed in a hotel until proper accommodations are found.

 “The accommodation must meet certain security standards, etc. That ambassador was placed in a hotel. I realise that Keith Bell was making noise about there being $20,000 being spent for a month - that’s 660 per night. Brussels is extremely expensive.

 “The accommodation would have been contracted by real estate agents where they would show you various different places ensuring that they meet security standards, etc. In terms of furnishing selections, etc, there’s a policy. There’s a protocol where you must have a bid. These are then subsequently approved, etc, within the budget.”

 He also stated: “Everything still has to stay within the budgetary framework of The Bahamas. That is why we have a budget and that is why we are discussing a budget. Every ministry has a budget. Brussels is very, very expensive. There are policies and protocols you can’t step out of that and, therefore, they would have followed the policies and protocols as established by the ministry.”

 He went on to also defend Ms O’Brien’s work to establish the embassy. He said she played a “pivotal” role in assisting the country in being removed from the blacklist.

 Pressed if the expenditure was justified, the former Prime Minister replied: “What I’m saying is (look at) the policy and the protocol. What they need to do is look at the policy and protocols because what I can tell you is that what we have found is salary for one particular country, let’s say what an ambassador may get in Florida may be totally inadequate because of the cost of living in Brussels and these are matters that have to be addressed.”

 However, he admitted Mr Henfield would have not known about the funds in the budget because the minister does not necessarily sign off on it, pointing to the secretary and financial officers who run the ministry.

  On the other hand, former Cabinet Minister under the Minnis administration Mr Henfield said if the accusations are true, the revelations speak to a systematic failure in the system.

 Mr Henfield said: “If the accusations are true as reported by Mr Bell, it is to my mind, indefensible the use of public funds, which speaks to a systemic failure in the system and it must be investigated so we can correct it from ever happening again in the future.”

 Mr Bell alleged on Tuesday that some of the more costly purchases included middle chairs for nearly $40,000, a rug at $18,475, $14,000 for a lamp and $10,000 for a mahogany scroll among other purchases.

 “If something like this can happen outside the regular knowledge of the ministry, as I’m told if it is as reported, we must find a way to fix the system to prevent it from ever happening again,” Mr Henfield added.

 Asked the appropriate action if it is found that there was wasteful spending, he answered: “I think the Auditor General likely has reported on it and so we await to see what findings (there are) for it and the recommendations that come from the Auditor General to see how we fix it and prevent it.”

 The Tribune reached out to the embassy, but did not receive a response up to press time.