they need to find residences illegally connected to sewer and water.

people who have bills have meters to get bills.

people who are illegally connected do not even get bills.

i am told that BEC is going around inspecting meters.

Another very costly investigation and perhaps more individuals to face charges in connection with all of the corruption under the previous government. But at the end of it all, will anyone actually serve a lengthy prison sentence for any of the crimes that have allegedly been committed?

There is something fishy going on here. Why are Ernst & Young (E&Y) the favoured forensic auditors for so many of the investigations instigated by the Minnis-led FNM government? If memory serves me well, E&Y were for the past several years (and may still be) the external auditors of Bank of The Bahamas ("BoB") ....... and we all know that BoB's audited annual financial statements have not been worth the paper they have been printed on for quite sometime now! I am reminded of Marcellus's famous non sequitur in Hamlet: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Perhaps our fourth estate (the independent press) can do some meaningful investigative work of their own to enlighten us as to what is going on here.

First, I would say that BOB's audited financials are "not worth the paper they are written on" due to the unregulated state of the Bank....no other financial institution would have been allowed to get away with what this shambles did. But, when you've got the ex-Governments and money launderers behind you, I guess you are given a free ride. E & Y did qualify the audit reports, meaning that they could not state categorically that the bank could be considered a going concern without continued massive funding / guarantees from the government

I'm not sure it's what you would call "fishy" in the case of the current forensic audits, more to do with the fact that Ernst &Young may be thought to be "cleaner" than the other big audit firms here. PwC had Ishmael Lightbourne (disgraced VAT czar) as a one-time partner, Deloitte sacked a partner for financial shennanigans, and the other smaller firms maybe do not have the manpower / expertise to carry out such lengthy and detailed forensic audits. In fairness, however, I should add that Mr Chipman is, or used to be, a partner at E&Y....so who knows !!!!

Let's not forget why E&Y had to sack Phil Galanis as their managing partner quite sometime ago.

Bingo !! Forgot that one :)

It has crossed my mind that E&Y will soon be in a position of conflict of interest, but this assumes that they have in the past done the audits of at least one governmental agency / corporation that will need a forensic audit. Maybe they didn't, knowing what they might open themselves up to. We shall see.

I predict that we will have one scandal per month for the next year. And nothing substantive will get done. I have been wondering why Adrian Gibson has been acting like the general manager and not the chairman. This seems to be an issue with many of the new ministers, they have no idea of the responsibilities of a board member or a minister so they ending up poking their noses into other people responsibilities. Confusion.

Still waiting on the grand plan for that spend of 100,000 per constituency, or is that the Urban Renewal 3.0 Slush Fund?

Well ............ tell us what the Chairman of the WSC Board is mandated to do

That's the main problem we face in this country, people don't understand the responsibilities of board members, MP's or senators, so when we see them doing "something", handing out $5 bags before school opens, picking up garbage, inspecting school repairs etc, we say "wow", they really wurkin' now. Meanwhile, they doing someone else job, stepping on people toes, the staff don't know who they should be reporting to and nobody is doing the chairman's or the MP's job. i.e. Confusion.

In my mind the Chairman should be RARELY heard from, he's busy behind the scenes, making sure the work of the board is getting done. And that's a long term vision. I never thought Adrian Gibson should have been put in that position, it showed clearly that nothing was going to change, he doesn't have the technical knowledge or the long term experience to function in that role overseeing a large technical corporation. Certainly not as chairman, the individual ABOVE ALL the other board members, it was a very strange appointment. That doesn't say he isnt bright and can't do "something", just not that. These guys never want to take the time to learn...

The board should looking at things like is the corporation hitting its long term targets? What investments in infrastructure do we need to make in the next five years? What risks to our operation do we see in the next five years as technology advances? How do we position ourselves to mitigate those risks? Where do we want to be positioned in the market in the next 5-10 years? What strategies do we employ to get there? What are the major challenges that the corporation faces to its bottom line? Is the corporation functioning according to it's stated mission? Those are the types of questions for the board.

This issue with lists that total 200,000 max is pocket change and not for the chairman. That's a general managers concern. The chairman is concerned with millions and billions. The list exists because of interference from the politicians, this is more of that.

So let us follow your logic ...... Dexter Cartwright should not be BTC chairman because he doesnot know about cell towers or fibre optic .......... and Osbourne should not be BPL chairman because she is not an electrical engineer ...... smh ............ Your answer is full of holes

**No you didn't "follow my logic", I said "technical knowledge" OR* "long term experience"**

Take for example the appointment of Ed Fields to the Central Bank Board of Governors. Most people would say, excellent choice! solely on the basis of name recognition, not taking into account for one minute the types of decisions that have to be made by the board and the requisite technical knowledge. Fortunately Ed Felds is a wise man and he resigned the position after the first meeting.

These board positions are not merit awards or training grounds, they're serious business.

I'm fully aware that the skill set for a Director can be transferred among domains. It's all about strategic thinking. If you have that skill, have a good understanding of how business operates in general and can quickly get up to speed on the new domain in which you're operating, you can move "almost" anywhere.

I don't know anything about those persons you've named or their experience in business. So I can't speak to them. I do know Adrian Gibson has never functioned in any oversight position for any large company and he has no engineering knowledge, so I maintain he is completely unsuited to a position overseeing the General Manager and ALL the other board members. I also see that he is not acting like a board member, he is acting like the general manager, and honestly I didn't expect anything else. That is what happens when you don't understand the role.

That does not discount the fact that I believe he is intelligent and can make a contribution elsewhere. Also his reaction to not getting a cabinet position was very very telling.

Make sure they do an audit at ZNS. Some people and companies will be shocked to discover they have outstanding balances in the thousands with this corporation even though they never had an account there or did business with ZNS on a cash basis. Corruption was rocking the nation.

You have to laugh when persons like the ex prime minister say they were not aware of their unpaid debts but you can be sure that they were aware of whether their salary came in or not.

Yes OMG ......... I am sure that ALL of these Bahamian politicians collect ALL of their salaries, perks, allowances, gratuities, pensions .......... and will them to their spouses as well........ Ever hear any of them donating it to charity????

Comrades! This new red shirts cabinet have signed more "Paid Vacation Daily Passes of on the public's purse Executives and Accounting Workers" - being escorted off of the nation's utilities corporations - than the new Warden has signed Daily Escort Prisoner Passes to wonder beyond the prison's gates up at Fox Hill. { You just couldn't make up how many government appointees and workers on the Public's Purse - is now being forced into extended vacations? }.

roc wit doc or saint Minnis is not in charge those other fellows are in charge. He does
as he is told. He puts on a show when he is told to do so. He does not care about the Bahamian
people and how they are treated so long as he has the name PM. even if he does not have the power.

they will do well to stop treating these employees as if they are criminals. So Chipman
use to work for this accounting firm . Interesting.