Government’s promised response to the red flags raised by the Auditor General in his scrutiny of the accounts of ministries and public departments has been as welcome as it is has been intriguing.For most Barbadians, the question remains, what happens now?We are overdue for definitive action on issues of public fiscal management that successive administrations have repeatedly failed to confront.The script has been old and tiresome. Year after year, when the Auditor General report is tabled we express collective shock and outrage at its findings; the blame game between the political parties takes over; no one is held accountable; we mouth support for the Auditor General; then the nine-day wonder passes.We move on until the next report is laid with no fewer alarming findings of glaring deficiencies in financial reporting and record keeping, poor internal controls at state-owned enterprises and reports of failed projects where millions of taxpayer dollars are missing or misspent.The
The Auditor General should be fully protected from political interference or any form of legal action, given the nature of his job and his responsibilities to the people of Barbados.Leader of the Alliance Party for Progress (APP) Bishop Joseph Atherley expressed that view as he has called for legislation to be enacted to protect that individual from being hauled before the courts in relation to information disclosed in any Auditor General Report.His comments in an interview with Barbados TODAY came just three days after Director of Finance and Economic Affairs Ian Carrington responded to several concerns raised by Auditor General Leigh Trotman in his 2020 report.Atherley noted that on at least one occasion, civil action had been taken against the Auditor General based on information in a report.“I, as former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), have seen what has come before us, and again looking at what the Auditor General has said and the replies made in Parliament, I t
Revenue Commissioner of the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) Louisa Lewis-Ward is giving the assurance that some improvements are on the cards for the agency’s collection and reporting processes.This was outlined in the BRA’s extended response to the latest Auditor General’s report, which identified a number of shortcomings within the revenue collection agency.In his 2021 report, Auditor General Leigh Trotman raised several concerns relating to extremely long delays in the provision of information, lack of information and inconsistencies that “pose risk of errors, omissions or acts of fraud being perpetuated and concealed”.He also highlighted the issue of refunds to taxpayers and monies that were due to the BRA.However, while refuting some of those claims, Lewis-Ward noted that the revenue collection agency has been plagued with “technological challenges”.
The Barbados Police Service (BPS) has been called in to help retrieve millions of dollars owed to the Government by persons who dishonestly obtained money intended for pensioners.This was revealed in Government’s response to the latest Auditor General Report, which disclosed that additional efforts were being made to recoup more than $3 million. Just over $650 000 has been recovered so far.In his 2021 report, Auditor General Leigh Trotman revealed that $3.9 million had been paid out to 34 pensioners who had died.“A review of the pension payroll revealed that payments totaling $3.9 million were being made in the names of deceased persons; in some instances these payments were being made for over 10 years. These payments were in respect of 34 former pensioners.“Information from the Registration Department confirmed that these former pensioners were deceased. The controls for the payment of pensions need to be reviewed and a stop order should be placed on any additional payments.
Government will have to pay an additional $10.6 million to complete the beleaguered School Meals Centre project at Six Roads, St Philip, more than ten years after construction began.According to an update laid before Parliament by the Director of Finance and Economic Affairs Ian Carrington late Thursday, a project manager has been appointed, and work on the facility, which has been halted since July 2016, is expected to get underway soon.“The Government has concluded that it is important to complete the project. Consequently, it has been determined by an independent quantity surveyor that it will cost approximately $10.60 million more to complete the project, and construction is set to recommence in the current financial year. As such, an amount of $3 million has been provided in this year’s Estimates,” Carrington wrote.Under the former Democratic Labour Party administration, the School Meals Centre, which was proposed to provide meals to 20 schools and cater to emergency situati