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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Nassau, Bahamas - Enclosed are speaking notes by Hubert Chipman along with copy of the
Public Accounts Committee Majority Report on the Urban Renewal
Commission that was tabled in the House of Assembly:
Mr. Speaker,
I stand here today to table the Public Accounts Committee Report on the Urban Renewal Commission, the First report of 2012 Session of Parliament. The main focus of this Report is the Urban Renewal Small Home repair program. The Public Accounts Committee was appointed by your Honourable self-Mr. Speaker at the beginning of the 2012 Parliamentary session. The Members appointed to the Committee were:
Mr. Hubert Chipman MP- Free National Movement, St. Anne’s (Chair)
Mr. K Peter Turnquest, MP-Free National Movement East Grand Bahama
Mr. Richard Lighbourn, MP-Free National Movement, Montague
Hon. D Shane Gibson, MP- Progressive Liberal Party, Golden Gates
Hon. Ryan Pinder, MP- Progressive Liberal Party, Elizabeth
Mr. Speaker,
The PAC is principally concerned with whether government policy is carried out efficiently, effectively and economically. Its main function is to see that government expenditures are applied for the purposes prescribed by Parliament, effectively, honestly and follow established best practices. The committee is a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in public affairs and as such has an absolute right of unfettered access to public files, records and other documents relevant to government’s financial operations.
Mr. Speaker,
At its first meeting on April 11th, 2013 the Chairman of the PAC brought to the attention of the Committee concerns that had been raised by the public over the purpose and operations of the Urban Renewal 2.0 Commission under the direction of the Ministry of Works and Urban Development and superintended by a Board Co-Chaired by the Hon. Cynthia Pratt and Hon. Algernon Allen.
On May 26, 2015 by order of the Honourable Speaker, the work of the PAC, as it pertained to the Auditor General’s Report on the Urban Renewal Program was interrupted for a period of two months following an objection from the Government and the Co-Chairs regarding the use of an Audit Report presented to the Committee as a resource document prior to such document being tabled in the Honourable House.
This interruption was eventually overturned when the Speaker ordered the Report tabled on July 15, 2015.
Mr. Speaker,
For the purposes of this report, the PAC examined records, correspondence and other documents provided by the Urban Renewal Commission (URC), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Works and Urban Development and the independent Quantity Surveyor CCMG.
The committee also interviewed several key figures involved in the administration of the Urban Renewal Commission over the past three years. These included, but were not limited to:
• URC Co-Chairs Algernon Allen and Cynthia Pratt
• Lisa Tucker, principal of CCMG
• URC Administrator Anya Symonette
• URC Permanent Secretary Diana Lightbourne
• URC Financial controller Francina Horton
• URC Deputy Director Gregory Butler
• BAIC Consultant Ricardo Smith
• RBPF Band Director Mr. Campbell
Mr. Speaker,
In summary the results of our report show:
1. The financial and operational procedures employed by Urban Renewal 2.0 (UR) have suffered from a host of functional deficiencies and are severely lacking in transparency, accountability and the minimum fiscal safeguards that are to be expected of any public programme.
2. The Small Homes Repair (SHR) project is an instructive case in point, having been found to lack appropriate record keeping and filing systems; to have applied unacceptable standards when engaging contractors; and to have failed to maintain even minimal levels of oversight.
3. In addition, highly questionable quality control standards were employed, resulting in full payment for work that was either substandard or nonexistent. It is quite clear that the public did not get value for its money, and that opportunities for dishonest dealing, fraud and profiteering abounded.
4. In the following report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) outlines our substantial concerns regarding the SHR in particular and the systematic weaknesses endemic to UR generally.
5. The report concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring accountability and best practices in the execution and management of this programme and others of its nature going forward.
6. The committee also calls for a detailed public review of Urban Renewal 2.0 in its entirety, to be carried out by a properly constituted and independent review board.
Mr. Speaker,
I have been in Public Accounting for thirty-six years before entering Public Life. A partner for twenty plus and the managing partner for six years in one of the most prestigious accounting firm in the world. During that time, I have worked on a number of engagements, some of which were in their incomplete stage. However, Mr. Speaker, even in those engagements because of the cooperation and the support from the staff, we were able to complete those engagements in a timely manner.
Mr. Speaker,
As Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, this has to be the most frustrating experience in my professional career. Mr. Speaker, I now know how the government and its agencies work. This committee has been taken to task on social media over the last few years and i must say rightly so. This is the age where people are expecting more accountability from the Government. Mr. Speaker, during the last few years I began to ask myself are we serious in this country? We have been challenged because we have not been able to have meetings because of a quorum, lack of information from various ministries on a timely basis, lack of resources, such as stenographers and the disruption to the committees for four months. Mr. Speaker this report has been completed since January. Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue in this vein.
Mr. Speaker,
I had the opportunity to attend a Public Accounts Committee symposium in London late last year along with the then Minister of State in the Attorney General Office and the member of Central and South Eleuthrea Mr. Damian Gomez, the Auditor General Mr. Terrance Bastian and the Assistant Clerk Mr. David Forbes. Mr. Speaker our eyes were opened as to how the Public Accounts Committee should function. It is my intention to table a copy of our report along with recommendations at a later date.
Mr. Speaker,
We noted that in England, the Chairman of the PAC is a member of the opposition and the composition of the PAC is reflective of the number of seats won by the Political party in the House of Commons. It is noteworthy that in England, Members of Cabinet cannot be members of the PAC or any other select committee of the House. The shadow spokespersons of the House are likewise disqualified from being members of the PAC.
The role of the PAC is to provide an objective non-partisan analysis of the cost effectiveness of the manner in which Government policy is executed. The de-pollicisation of the analysis demands the disqualification of Cabinet Ministers and their counterparts in the opposition.
Unlike the House of Commons which have over 650 Members of Parliament, The Bahamas only has 38 Members of Parliament one of whom is the Speaker of the House. There are 22 Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries in the House of Assembly.
Every Member of Parliament in the Official Opposition has been assigned as a Shadow Minister. It is difficult in the existing factual circumstances to explain how an objective nonpartisan analysis of the function of Government can be achieved!
While the UK ideal is not readily feasible in the Bahamian context there are aspects of it that can be implemented if there is a genuine desire to do so.
A paradigm shift is required if the PAC is to function within the internationally accepted parameters observed in countries where transparency is seen as a desirable political objective. Mr. Speaker, we need a reform with the select committee of this House. We cannot continue with business as usual. Any select committee is only as good as the information it receives. In this instance the information was not forthcoming on timely basis. The PAC has also requested information on BAMSI over eighteen months ago from the Ministry of Works and Urban Development. To date we have only received an acknowledgement of that request from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, this is not acceptable.
Mr. Speaker,
Finally, the PAC would like to publicly acknowledge the competent and able assistance of its secretary Mr. David Forbes and other members of the parliamentary staff in the conduct of this investigation and the compilation of this report.
I now table the report the majority report which is signed by myself the Member for St. Anne’s, the Member for East Grand Bahama Mr. K. Peter Turnquest and the Member for Montagu Mr. Richard Lightbourn. The Member from Golden Gates Hon D. Shane Gibson and the Member for Elizabeth Mr. Ryan Pinder did not sign the report. Mr. Speaker, it is the intention of the member for Golden Gate to file a minority report
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
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