By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas “has a ways to go” in ensuring Government Boards are staffed by suitably-qualified persons, a prominent accountant said yesterday.

Simon Townend, a KPMG (Bahamas) partner and head of the firm’s corporate advisory practice in the Caribbean, said improving corporate governance in the Bahamas will have a “direct beneficial impact” on the economy.

He added that the Bahamas was “moving in the right direction”, but still has “a ways to go” in ensuring that government corporation/agency Board positions are filled by well-qualified directors.

Speaking as a panellist at a Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) conference on corporate governance and accountability, Mr Townend said: “We need to get past that every time there is a new government, you see in the newspapers 130 new Boards, and one or two people seem qualified. I sense that has been moving in the last couple of terms, but I still feel we have a ways to go.”

Mr Townend’s comments hit on a topic frequently raised privately with Tribune Business over the years, namely the need to improve Board quality and corporate governance at government corporations and agencies.

Contacts have expressed a strong belief that many of the corruption and other scandals relating to government agencies over the years could have been avoided if these factors were in place.

They have often queried whether many corporation/agency directors are aware of their fiduciary and corporate governance obligations to the Bahamian taxpayer and wider public, given that they are appointed to represent the sole shareholder (the Government) and are often selected because they are supporters of the political party in power (election rewards).

Speaking with Tribune Business, Mr Townend emphasised the need to improve corporate governance from an economic development perspective. “The more well-qualified people you can have on government and non-government Boards, the better,” he said.

“I think that we are moving in the right direction. There is no overnight fix. The Bahamas is not alone, and corporate governance has evolved everywhere at different paces.”

He continued: “We would see a direct beneficial impact if we started at the top. The more people we can get on those Boards that have the necessary expertise, the better. We need to make sure the people going on these Boards are trained. They need to go through a standard level corporate governance training programme. There are very qualified people on many of the Boards; I’m just not sure that they are in the majority.”

Mr Townend said the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Public Financial Management and Performance Monitoring Programme, if fully rolled-out the way it is designed, “will force better performance at the government Board and department level, and force better accountability on the way things are managed”.

“I think we are moving in the right direction. I think if we fix that it will have a direct beneficial impact on the economy,” he added.