By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE traditionally powerful Public Accounts Committee has been stalled, thwarted and handicapped in its ability to carry out its constitutional mandate, according to an interim report. 

The report, which is expected to be signed and presented to Parliament today, lays the blame for the committee’s “disability” on the Minnis administration’s interpretation of former House Speaker Dr Kendal Major’s controversial 2015 ruling.

Dr Major’s ruling effectively blocked the PAC’s investigation of a leaked audit report into Urban Renewal 2.0 at the time, and the government has since taken the position that it bars the committee from reviewing anything not brought to the House of Assembly by the auditor general. 

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis suggested his administration would not facilitate the opposition-led Public Accounts Committee during an interview last year. 

Dr Minnis noted the previous administration had such a policy that tied the hands of the previous PAC, adding: “Tell Philip ‘Brave’ Davis live by the laws and rules he brought forth.”

The interim PAC report calls on sitting House Speaker Halson Moultrie to reaffirm the committee’s power to call for people and documents on “any matter involving government’s revenue, expenditure, and to review and examine if the government is receiving value for money.”

It states only that the Central Bank complied with its formal requests, and various government agencies were not responsive, and in one instance, defiant. 

As for the 2015 ruling’s impact on the PAC’s powers, the report stated: “The (PAC) secretary advised that even though the advice of the Office of the Attorney General to the Speaker at that time was that only audited public accounts that were tabled in Parliament were reviewable by the committee, ‘it had been the established convention that the Public Accounts Committee could investigate all government accounts regardless of whether they had been audited by the auditor general or anyone else, for that matter.’” 

The report continued: “The secretary to the committee further advised that ‘Parliament authorised all government borrowings and was thus authorised to inquire as to whether those authorised funds had been spent in accordance with the terms for which (the borrowings) had been authorised.’

“The secretary further advised that the committee also had a right to determine if there was value for money in the expenditure of the borrowed funds,” it added. 

In the interim report, the PAC insists the 2015 ruling was correct but argues the scope of the ruling’s intent was limited.

“Further,” the report read, “the ruling did not mean that the powers and functions of the committee to subpoena, investigate, examine and review public accounts and other such relevant documentation were thereby stripped. 

“The committee mandate is not restricted to reports and accounts before the House,” the report stated, “in the context that it excludes the expenditure of revenue and/or expenditure approved by this Parliament.” 

The committee has attempted to mount a review of a purported conflict over the calculation of the deficit between the monetary authority, Central Bank, and the fiscal authority, the Ministry of Finance (MOF). The Central Bank pegged the budget deficit at around $250m for the 2017/2018 fiscal year, and the MOF put the figure around $500m.

The Central Bank provided the PAC with a balance sheet for the 2016/2017 year, converted from Treasury to the bank’s government finance statistics format used in its publications. 

The treasurer and the minister of works did not respond to the committee’s letters dated September 26, 2017.

According to the report, the Ministry of Finance’s permanent secretary - in response - called the request “irregular”, adding “it is the considered view of the Ministry of Finance that it has no obligation to the PAC to explain its estimates.” 

The MOF official further stated Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest would address the matter in Parliament.

On July 25, 2018, the committee formally requested explanations from acting Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson and Mr Turnquest on three matters.

First, a clarification on the methodology used to account for arrears between the fiscal years 2017/2018 and 2016/2017, particularly the apparent lack of consistency and a complete listing of the $360m to be paid over a three-year period.  

Second, the details on all the loans settled and rescheduled during the 2017/2018 fiscal year, outlining which loans were restructured and both the old and new terms, and the total of all associated commissions and fees that were paid.

Thirdly, a listing of all VAT refunds assessed by the MOF on any entity in Grand Bahama or the country as a result of changes to related laws and regulations, with specific dates and amounts of any payments.

The Ministry of Finance responded that it was not obligated to comply with formal requests made by the committee, according to the report.

The committee also noted it sought assistance from the Office of the Auditor General to obtain audited accounts or financial statements of ministries, departments and public corporations put before Parliament from 2012 to 2018 - but were told those reports were tabled and in the possession of the House of Assembly.

The committee said it has not received a response or cooperation from Mr Johnson to its request in facilitating its work.

The PAC’s members are: Cat Island MP Philip Davis, Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper, South Andros and Mangrove Cay MP Picewell Forbes, Golden Gates MP Michael Foulkes, and Long Island MP Adrian Gibson.

Messrs Foulkes and Gibson are the government’s representatives on the PAC.  

The report stated that Mr Foulkes questioned the power of the committee to examine public accounts, adding it was noted that this position is what “made it difficult for the committee to carry out its function”. 

As for its minority FNM members, the report noted their disagreement and stance that the requests put forward by the committee were outside its legal authority. The minority also said that the majority report’s characterisation of the committee’s efforts was “unfortunate and indeed distressing”.

However, in its final comments, the PAC report underscored Centreville MP Reece Chipman’s resignation from the committee earlier this year due to frustration over its perceived immobility.

Dr Major declined comment when contacted by The Tribune yesterday.