All contracts issued by the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority have been terminated after a recent review found several irregularities related to the issuance of contracts.
The review also found that the authority consistently went over its budget by millions of dollars between 2019 and 2021.
“The Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority has requested and received consistent supplemental funding beyond the budget book amounts in each of the last three fiscal years,” noted the internal controls and operational review, which was conducted K. Christie and Co. Chartered Accountants.
“We did not identify the exact need for extra-budgetary allocations and there is speculation that it was fueled more by the demand and requests for economic stimulation than by any real needs on the ground. This operational review revealed a combination of material weaknesses and significant deficiencies that created an environment to facilitate such overruns.
“The material weaknesses stemmed principally from the board’s failure to exercise oversight by meeting regularly and requiring reports that would enable it to monitor the budget versus actual performance of the authority.
“Additionally, the procedures within the Accounts and Inspection Department lack checks and balances that can militate against errors, improper behavior, and other risks. Deficiencies were reflected in the authority’s inability to reduce risks and incorrect information.”
One hundred and thirty of the 1,085 contracts at the authority were examined in the report.
The majority of those contracts met the requirements of the authority.
However, according to the report, there were “some deficient files”.
“There [was] one contract that [was] not initially located and never provided to our team, two contracts were not signed, one had no witness signature and eight files had no signature on reassignment,” the report stated.
“We have brought these exception contracts to the attention of the chairman of the authority …”
Contracts were signed by the authority’s executive chairman at the time, St. Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright, and the board secretary, Marisol Morley.
Some concerns were raised with the inconsistencies of Cartwright’s signature.
“Three different signatures purporting to be that of the executive chairman were affixed to contracts,” the report noted.
“The authority could not produce a specimen signature or A/B signatory list to confirm the proper signature that should have been affixed to contracts. Some contracts were signed and dated by the authority ahead of the vendor/witness signing …”
Some contracts were not witnessed and some were also missing from the files given to examiners.
Duplicate contracts were reassigned without management approval.
“Generally, the document was signed by the inspector and vendor,” the report stated.
“A few of the scanned-in PDF files were not signed. Some files did not have proof of a business license.”
It continued, “… The authority does not require the official Know Your Customer (KYC) identification taken from vendors to be placed on file, i.e., driver’s license, NIB card, and passport to compare [the] vendor’s signature. These forms of ID are standard information and at a minimum establish that the authority is dealing with the proper person.
“Multiple contracts have been issued to individuals using different company names. These individuals have anywhere from one to 10 contracts.”
The authority’s accounts department consists of one senior account.
The report described that employee as diligent but noted that the individual does not hold professional qualifications.
It noted that the size and complexity of the authority’s average annual expenditure require “a highly skilled accounting department with expertise in financial control and compliance to ensure proper financial management”.
“A financial controller, assistant financial controller, and accounts payable clerk are basic and essential positions for a corporation handling several hundred contracts and a multimillion-dollar budget,” the report stated.
“Additional staff with [a] strong accounting background are required to adequately staff and maintain good standards for accurate monitoring and reporting, etc.”
The authority has not prepared bank reconciliation for its three bank accounts since August 2018.
It has also not released annual audited financials, as required by law, since its creation.
“The authority is registered for VAT purposes,” the report noted.
“… However, in contravention of the VAT Act, it has not filed VAT returns. It was confirmed to us that VAT returns were never filed as required by the VAT Act and Regulations.”
NEXT STEP
During a press briefing on Friday, Office of the Prime Minister Press Secretary Clint Watson described the findings in the report as “jaw dropping”.
Watson, who released the report to the public, said it made clear that “there was a culture of reckless disregard at the authority”.
“There was no attempt to implement or exercise effective controls,” he said.
“There was no attempt to document why there was a need to engage in such excessive spending. Instead, a select group of people, operating under different identities, received multiple contracts and were paid huge amounts of taxpayer money to carry out work which was at best unnecessary, at worst, not carried out at all.”
When asked if anything in the report rises to the level of needing the involvement of police or the director of public prosecutions, McKell Bonaby, the current executive chairman of the authority, replied, “What we are doing now is going through the report. The report will be laid before the board. The board will make some decisions and some instructions will be carried out as a result of our meeting.
“And so, we are working around the clock but we don’t want to get ahead of any investigations, as Clint said in his statement. So that’s something that we’re going to consider.”
Watson said Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis was made aware of the report. He said the prime minister has given “certain directions as the minister of finance”.
“We’re not privy to discuss on it because, of course, as you heard Mr. Bonaby say, he has to inform his board first of those instructions,” Watson said.
“I don’t want the instructions to be heard on national airways and the board has not met; but he has given them instructions and once they would have been informed of that, we’re able to come back and say to you what the prime minister’s response is in regard to that.”
The report followed Davis’ recent revelation in Parliament that the projected expenditure of the authority increased by nearly 150 percent in the months leading up to the September 16 general election, due to the award of contracts.
In a short statement on the weekend, Cartwright said during his tenure, established procedures were followed.
“Notably the report indicates that ‘most contracts adhered to the documentation requirements of the authority,” he said. “I look forward to the completion of the government’s assessment on this matter at which point I will respond accordingly.”
Earlier this month, he said, “Let me state for the record, I will not be used by any intended or unintended attempt to put my integrity in the political crosshairs whether from without or within, nor will I allow the efforts of hardworking public servants to be used as political fodder.”
The post Excess spending on govt contracts appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/excess-spending-on-govt-contracts/
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