–PAC finds in AG report

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday brought to light breaches by the Region Ten administration, which were included in the Auditor General’s report for 2019.

As the PAC examined the reports for 2019 for the region, committee members discovered that several cheques were cut for works in the region, even though the works were incomplete.

The report disclosed that more than 200 cheques amounting to over $130 million were prepared for incomplete work.

Seeking answers from the regional officials, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill asked the former Regional Executive Officer (REO) if he agrees that based on what was mentioned in the report there was a breach.

Quoting parts of the report, Edghill said: “The regional administration was in breach of Section 43 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2003 because of these cheques that were cut and on hold, and had to be updated to be returned to the Consolidated Fund. Do you agree that there was a breach?”

The former REO, Orrin Gordon, in response, stated that there was indeed a breach, and in trying to offer an explanation, he indicated that they had a system in place for work to be completed within a period of time.

Probing deeper, Edghill remarked, “We’re talking here that cheques were cut for the works that were not completed; the work didn’t do, how the cheques cut if the work didn’t do?”

Several other members of the committee put forward questions concerning the reasoning behind this breach, and even inquired as to whether the systems have been changed to prevent such breaches in the future.

However, the former REO said that at that time there were all sorts of situations confronting the entity, including resources that should have been made available earlier among other things.