Auditor General Report On TCD Overspend
(Updated) Auditor General Heather Jacobs released a special report on the Motor Vehicle Safety and Emissions Testing Programme saying “This report, which focuses on Government’s management of the programme, describes a lack of accountability and a general disregard for established policies and procedures in the use of public funds.”
Ms Jacobs says the initial budgeted cost was $5.3 million, however it ended up costing the taxpayer approximately $10 million more – $15.23 million.
The Auditor General states that this Special Report highlights major concerns including:
- A programme which was compromised from the outset
- Non-compliance with Government’s tendering policies and payment procedures
- Failure to obtain Cabinet approval prior to signing of contracts relating to the construction or operation of the testing facilities; and
- Failure to vet the operating agreement and the related annual operating expenses.
According to the Auditor General “The manner in which the programme was managed provided little oversight by Government, but resulted in Government retaining all the financial risks while effectively relinquishing control over the developmental costs to a consultant company.”
Update 5:32pm: Full 40-page report added below:
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- BDA Response to Auditor’s Report on Overspend | Bernews.com | October 25, 2010
- Governor on Report of $10 Million Overspend | Bernews.com | October 26, 2010
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Wow there’s a surprise (sarcasm).
How many millions has Dennis Correia made off the BDA taxpayer in the last 4 years in just “overruns” alone?
Cronyism at is best (worst)
Dennis and those that get their 10% in brown bags..
Wonder who the blame for this will fall on?
Dare I say it will not be the Minister for Transport, nor the Minister of Tourism, and certainly not the Premier.
And DEFINIETLY not Paula Cox! PLP re-branding says that although she’s Minister of Finance, she’s somehow separate from all those past shenanigans and will somehow make a good leader (ironic smirk)….
Nor the Premier in waiting. How many times do we have to read these incredible stories/ findings before we wake up as black people and simply admit that we have been had.
I don’t want to hear that this has been going on prior to the PLP taking over. How does that excuse the mess that we have endured since and before the great MD took over?
Doc will be Laughing all the way to Turks & Caicos..
In other, equally shocking news, rain is wet.
Mrs. Pavern Lurbert will still have a justification for this…PLP Defender to the Rescue….?!?!?
Today’s headlines “Schools to close in cost-saving measure”
The treasury has been looted, (reasons well known to all)so who is surprised?
Minister James has been left holding the bag,simply because he couldn’t resist Brown’s smooth talk, and returned to the infamous Cabinet!
Paula’s new campaign logo: “It wasn’t me”! LOL! Can’t wait to see what Peter Woolcock does with this! And earlier today the press reports on the need for some public schools to close! SHAME ON PLP! SHAME ON US AS VOTERS FOR ALLOWING IT!
Only ignorant party loyalist from both parties think only politicians from the other party is corrupt. We who really knows the truth, know that, whenever so much power is concentrated at the ministerial level, as we have in the Westminster system, that power will corrupt the best of us. So you see party loyalist, the problem is not the other party, it is the system of Government and the lack of accountability that comes with a polarizing and divisive type of government.
So get over it, it only gets worse from here on. Before you know it, your tolerances for corruption will be so high, you will catch your leaders hands in the cookie jar and thinks he or she is entitled. You have already began to get desensitized to the violence. High unemployment and crime will make political corruption look like a walk in the park.
So the sooner you all make your leaders more accountable and drop this dumb party political nonsense, the sooner you will get the governance you all want.
But for now, you all are just impaired by your loyalty to either party.
“Critical thinking is a virtue”
Oh! They are so good, just move away from the gov. Checks & balances, and it’s open house again, I hear there’s a new program starting soon on CITV, it’s called “Who wants to be a Millionaire” sponsored by the Tax payer. With your host Paula Cog.
We might as well let my business class run the finance department of the government. I was told to read the newspaper to broaden my knowledge of how businesses are run in the real world for a better understanding. So, what exactly is it that I’m supposed to learn from this? What not to do, maybe.
There is no other way to say it but the average PLP voter has been conned.
Are you better off under a PLP government
Do you have more savings than you did 10 years ago
Do you have job security
Are you better prepared for retirement
The answer that you do not want to give is NO
Who is better off
Premier and Cabinet Ministers and their yes men
Just remember they vote their own pay rise
Why is everyone afraid to speak out.
We are all struggling to pay grocery bills and we are being laughed at. We are paying more in payroll taxes to cover the monies paid to Correia and the other favorable contractors. Why won’t blacks speak up?
PLP has lost its values. It was a peoples party not a dictators party. Please everyone wake up before it is too late.
Those in power have forgotten their roots but will soon be on the doorstep preaching the same old BS.
And as for Minister Cox, wake up and smell the coffee, you are not fit to run this country. You are solely to blame for our debt mountain. We are still waiting to hear how you intend paying it down. You talk a lot but not what we want to hear
So which Government are you suggesting, they should change them for?
Learning from our Government, No! stick to your program and advance to achieve your goals,come november Minister Cox will start to reform this country,starting with to rid of the evil in government, i.e. minister home affairs,she will Then put in place people with honesty, integrity and loyalty to Bermudians,then she will get down in the mud and better this country.
I’ve just read the entire report and there are a number of unanswered questions. I’ve found this with past OAG Reports in that they are sometimes written in ‘cautious language,’ are careful not to identify the actual individuals involved (although in this case the OAG identifies the shareholders of private companies but, curiously, not the various Civil Servants) and the reports (and this one is no exception) don’t always seem to probe far enough. The real annuity in the contractual arrangements here is in the annual emissions testing contract (ETC). Although the Report claims to provide an analysis of “value for money” it doesn’t when it comes to the ETC. The ETC is potentially worth $24 million over 10 years. Yes, that’s $24 million that you and I pay when we have our cars examined. But we’re none the wiser when it comes to reading the OAG Report on the specifics of the ETC and whether the taxpayers are getting “value for money” (OAG’s words):
1. What are the actul costs to BECL for testing vehicles?
2. How do these costs per vehicle compare to other jurisdictions?
3. How much, if any, is the tax payer subsidising the operating costs of BECL? For example does BECL pay full operating costs (taxes, electricity etc.) for the square footage they occupy?
4. What exactly are the lease arrangements for BECL? Are they paying market rates for the space at 3 emissions centres?
5. Are BECL’s financial statements disclosable to the public? If not, why not?
6. We learn from the TCD website that the Examination portion of annual relicensing costs us $46.35 for a 4 wheeled vehicle? Does TCD collect this on BECL’s behalf?
7. Do the tax-payers pay anything directly to BECL for annual testing?
8. Reference is made to the emissions testing only. So, who actually conducts the physical inspection of a vehcile to ensure compliance with the law? Has this all been privatised now and is it in BECL’s hands?
[Perhaps another reader of BERNEWS can help us out here. Besides the annual car licensing fee, is there another charge levied by BECL for the examination? If so, what is the $ cost of this?]
Many more questions to ask – but I’ll wait for other comments and feedback first.
that is not nice i just read the whole report…these two companies just basically pulled down “our ” pants and had their fun…wow I wonder how far this will get…or will Ms Matthews get as much flack as the previous auditor general…this is not nice.
Stellar reporting here: Does the Auditor General ever issue a positive report? Why don’t we look at the dates in the report and ask a more pertinent question? This is OLD news and if you care to check past releases from the AG’s department, you would see that this investigation was referred to in the first press release by this Auditor General as in process when she took office because Larry Dennis intiated it – well over a year ago. This report should have been released in 2009 but it comes to light now? Reminiscent of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted….Since Larry Dennis left we have a functionary in his place evidenced by the timing of a report that states the obvious and epitomizes the irrelevance we are accustomed to from civil servants justifying their existence. Yes, it’s time for a pointless round of applause….
What make’s Larry Dennis more credible to you then her, I wander. You all were critical of her from the time she was appointed. You drew your conclusion of her in a rapid cognition manner, and then set out to prove your stance. There could be any number of reasons why it’s just cumming out now, but you have to focus on the one that fits your twisted logic. So now you can say, “Ha-Haa” I told you she is nothing but a proxy. You people are pathetic, the same scenario from Larry Dennis would be explained in some other manner, why? because some how, folks like him are just oozing with integrity and credibility, they just have that innate entitlement. White supremacy at it’s worst, and you don’t need to be white, you just need to believe that whites are supreme beings.
Critical Thinker,
I actually believe that Misinformation is trying to belittle both Larry Dennis and Ms. Matthews as being nothing but haters of the current administration and useless civil servants. It appears that this individual is actually defending the “mis-appropriation” of taxpayers money by stating that this is an old report and thus should be duly ignored.
Not everything is about white supremacy and racism. I guess it is if you decide to look for it in every instance though, as most Bermudians do nowadays…
Just saying…
“You people are pathetic”
Wow doesn’t sound like a statement that should be coming from such a “critical thinker.” Imagine if a white person stated the above to a black person. Hell would be raised.
But because that derogatory and stereotyping phrase is directed towards whitey it is completely acceptable and understandable..
Who says he or she is white, I am referring to a mind set, that says coming from one set. its good and clean and coming from another, something doesn’t smell right. And that mind set is rampant in both blacks and whites. It is not a conscious thought process for the affected, it is learned from subliminal messages we are all exposed to from birth. This is not real if you don’t know it exist. It will only exists depending on your level of ability to think, and really think.
I beg to differ, that sentence below says it all. That is at the very least belittling her roll, while legitimizing Larry’s.
“Reminiscent of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted….Since Larry Dennis left we have a functionary in his place”
What I took this person as saying is that Ms. Matthews is just carrying on with the negative reporting and “attacks” on the PLP Government that the previous AG had initiated and thus should be completely ignored hence the “functionary” comment.
When you take one sentence out of a statement, it can be interpreted in many ways, as evidenced above. The ability to further one’s own opinion or agenda using the words of another by removing all context is customary political propoganda practice and, sadly, been adopted by the media and partisan commenters. We do not need to be lowered to such intellectual sloth to question our government or civil service – yet,I, must necessarily rely on less information, as a mere voter unassociated with any party or civil service involvement and therefore not privy to documents and reports that are unavailable to the general public. However, when a report or press release is issued, I look to the actual documents and not the summarized and more sensatonalized summaries provided by reporters.
The announcement of this investigation’s commencement (and the investigation on Dockyard which has yet to be reported on by his replacement) was publicized by Larry Dennis, more than once and he gave an interview prior to his August 2009 retirement which referred to the findings of both investigations 14 months ago. In that interview, Larry Dennis provided a high level summary of his findings which have been set out in voluminous detail and concurrence in this report. He specifically referenced the violations of government rules regarding tendering and significant cost overruns as a systemic and pervasive practice based on his February 2009 special report and the evidence his audit on TCD and Dockyard had uncovered and that would be reported on after he had resigned. I have no reason to not rely on his statements and, indeed, in no less than three subsequent press releases, Ms Matthews continued to refer to the imminent release of these reports.
When these reports failed to materialize months later, I began to question the agenda of his replacement who seemed content to issue promotional press releases on matters already reported on in the 2009 audit but failed to issue the official reports on the TCD/Dockyard audits in a timely manner. We also learned at this time that the Premier and Minister responsible for both projects was to step down 12 months later (i.e. now). Given that we have officially read in the TCD report, and expected to in the nebulous Dockyard report, that the Premier’s ministries violated government rules from the get go on the tendering, management and oversight of these capital projects to the extent that the public purse was plundered to the detriment of the Bermudian people in our most challenging economic environment, why has it taken this AG nearly 18 months to perform her duty and inform us of the specifics of this abuse? The annual audit of the government, the entire government fund does not take half that time. Had this and the Dockyard report come out in a timely fashion i.e. before the Finance Minister approved the 2010/11 budgets, we could have reigned in the horse. Instead, most all ministries had to take budget cuts this year – where – education and energy/ telecommunications – the most fundamental minsitry for our youth and the ministry charged with the essential task of keeping us on the cutting edge of the technology to preserve our worldwide competitive edge in international business and provide Bermudians with another viable career path in IT.
Accordingly, I have no issue with this report and it outlines, in detail, the expectations that the former AG discussed before his departure. The problem is that it has lost much of its relevance and “information” does not have any gravitas and is not relvant or of audit sufficiency if not released in a timely manner. Had it been released in 2009 or even early 2010, then maybe our Finance Minister could have found the fortitude, or at least more party support to comply with her own directive to freeze all budgets for this financial year. Instead she capitulated to the ministries under investigation giving them large budget increases and in an attempt to compensate for the imbalance, reduced the education budget and telecomm, as mentioned already. So we have a report issued that points a large finger at an outgoing Premier and issues the responsible civil servants a slap on the wrist. I also noted, when reviewing the budget book again, that the AG also received a budget increase! A little quid pro quo? That is pure speculation but a disturbing train of events or non events has raised a level of discomfort within a large segment of our island’s business community around the appointment of this particular indvidual. A further incident, unremarkable on its own, now begs another look. Some months ago a headline in the Gazette, had the opposition parties excited when Ms Matthews once again ran to the press with an alarming statement that her inability to access computer systems for a week or so had rendered her incapable of doing her job. Some years ago her predecessor was arrested, his staff were evicted from their office and given a space unfit to work in and that didn’t stop him from performing his work. In fact his last report on issues of overspending on capital projects regarding the courthouse was issued in Jan 2009 before the project was complete. When you issue special reports well after the fact; it’s the equivalent of an autopsy – thorough, detailed, accurate but of no use whatsoever, espcially when the report’s target or individual ultimately deemed responsible is about to step down from political office and can be used as the scapegoat for the remaining negligent ministers and civil servants who will be soliciting our votes again next year. Ergo, the horse has bolted and the report is a functional formality, based on the evidence provide to the general public in the past few years.
I can only applaud your humour – kind of like the nightly news that begins with “Good evening” and then proceeds to inform one and all why it’s not…. your comment is certainly critical,m but if that passes for thinking then I believe you have been done a great injustice by your former educators. Where did the white supremacy fallacy come from? I am unsure of who “you all” are that were supposedly critical of her… I never heard of her before this appointment as I am in the exempt sector and travel often. However, I did some checking and heard from many that she did a very good job as Tax Commissioner and started the first internal audit function for government. I have also had equally opposing views of her prior to those appointments – I believe as Accountant General. I am basing my views solely on the press releases she issued and promises to issue the results of the reports that Larry Dennis initiated and referred to in his pre-retirement interview. Audit reports are useless if they are not timely and this one is excessively lengthy and preachy; this tends to deter most from reading it and instead rely on the often biased summaries in the newspapers. The mandate of this essential office is stated on the cover sheet and I feel has not been upheld – the delay of this report and the absence of the Dockyard one (and coincidental timing with the Premier’s departure) cause the contents of the report to fail to meet the three basic characteristics of persuasion required by professional standards – sufficient, competent and relevant. The lack of timely reporting precludes the relevance requirement. When issuing an audit/special report which clearly shows those charged with a duty of care and proscribed laws in their roles of elected or appointed servants have been negligent, (some flagrantly so) I would be careful to ensure my own compliance was not likewise deficient, by failing to adhere to the fundamental principles of auditing standards. This role should probably have been filled with someone with more technical experience and time in audit and not a career civil servant who made the rounds in various departments that are not subject to compliance with the constantly evolving international standards of audit as well as Bermuda law.
Wow you Brownites love to defend wrong…You would rather see this country sink to the bottom of the Atlantic before you admit any wrongdoing on your beloved leaders part…
Let me put in perspective for you:
> BCC: Dennis Correia received majority shares of the Bermuda Cement Company when certain political individuals abused their elected power to force Jim Butterfield to relinquish his private company to Maxcem because of unfair demands that were magically eliminated once Dennis Correia gained the majority of the organization. Now he reaps profit from just about every bag of cement that is utilized in Bermuda building projects.
> Dockyard Pier Scandal: RG exposed emails between the overseas contractor and Dennis Correia in which Correia instructed the overseas contractor to quadruple their rate regarding certain equipment leasing. I believe the original quote was $10k per month, but Correia instructed the gentleman to charge Correia $40k a month instead of taxpayers monies. This is not a conspiracy theory as the emails were obtained by the RG. On top of that how much was spent to “save the dolphins.” He made more $$ on simple “overruns” then 10 average Bermudians will see over the course of their lifetimes. Why was there no investigation by the Ministry of Tourism & Transport (who signed off on the deal) to this blatant theft or “mis-appropriation” of millions of dollars of taxpayers money? Instead Dr. Brown blames planning. Hahaha.
> TCD: Dennis Correia, who owns 30% of the emissions company in question with the remaining owned primarily by Dr. Brown’s cousin, is selected to construct the three emissions testing center around in a non-tendered bidding process. On top of that Correia sub-contracts work to one of his subsidiaries without putting it to tender. So the man was able to build, via taxpayers $$$, three emissions centers of which he has a 30% share to ensure him massive revenues over the next decade due to highlighted Ministerial interferece (see report). On top of that, as with all Correia taxpayer related projects, it ends up being $10mn over budget. I am in the wrong business.
Those three “deals” alone have enriched the man through millions of taxpayers money with no sort of accountability or follow ups on how so much taxpayers money has been “mis-spent”.
And I guess it’s all one of those coincidences that each and every one of these shady deals occurred through Dr. Brown’s Ministries?
Wow you guys truly place your party before country.
No party affiliation for me, thanks you. I leave that to the narrow minded individuals. I am just someone from the outside looking in. And I am not at all amazed how party loyalty makes people on both sides so impaired. You all actually believe that only the other party is corrupt. read my post above, then you would not think I am of PLP. Only Party loyalist thinks that if someone criticize their comment, that somehow means, that the critic must be of the other party.
I wrote that post in rebuttal to Misinformation and not yours mate…
i think the other party is corrupt too, but the problem is, we arent dealing with the other party.
the problem we have is that our govts are allowed to be in office for two long. They get their roots in and stay. .and thats when problems arise because its hard to vote them out..so they can do as they wish..
at the end of the day, this govt has used certain devisive measures to con people into voting for them and then running all over the place. Yes the other party may have been corrupt, but does that mean we have to allow that today? or can we actually grow a pair and start demanding accountability?
sooo…. what do you think of the information in the report? not the messenger? and not that it is all of a sudden coming out?
what do you think about the content? good? bad? dont care as long as you can defend Govt?
Paula Cox responded to the report with her typically verbose fashion, and from the outset essentially says “It wasn’t me!!”
You all should be outrage about the direction our country is going in, and figure out a way to take it back. This Island has long been hijacked by special interest. It’s not about trying to score points for your party, based on the PLP’s blunders. Exchanging on for the other will not solve the level of crime that is about to take over, and the social ills that is a breeding ground for crime.
You need to rally your forces together and demand a different type of government, one with accountability. Demand the freedom of information act to be implemented without delay; demand a contractor general with teeth to bite, whenever corruption is uncovered. You need all independents in the House, who are accountable to their constituencies, who can fire them if they do not work, or carry out the will of the people.
I know you party loyalist cant subscribe to anything other than what you have now, but this is not for you, this is for the majority of folks, who are in the center. You need to take back this country and put people in charge, not because they are well educated, but people with wisdom to make the proper dicicians that will move the country forward.
I know this is easier said than done, just look at the Education reform that is years in the making. The reason they are unable to fix it is, in order to do that, they have to fire friends and relitives. So instead fo fireing them and getting the right people to run the dept. they hire more.
You have to figure out a way to get out of this rut, and the only way to do that, is to first have a government that is accountable, with not so much power at the ministerial level, and then put people with wisdom in place, and understand that the decisions they make will usually be unpopular, especially to the unions.
The W&E department is the biggest wasters, they have people taking two months to build a bus shelter. The function of that ministry, should be to oversea the capitol projects, and all public works should be given out to tender. Can you imagine the windfall in saving we could realize just from that one ministry. And it goes on and on. Wake up people, I can guarantee you that if you all don’t stop the party bickering now and wise up. you haven’t seen anything yet.
When you say “You all should be outrage(d)” & “You need to rally your forces” are you including yourself in that? Or are you going to just Think and be Critical?
I Have one foot in and one foot out. On an air trigger, ready to fly outta here when the sh-t hits the fan.
Kno dat
That started in 98 I suspect..However can’t fault anyone that doesn’t, support the PLP given the shambolic manner in which they have mismanaged our money…
Have always said that there is a very thin line between racism and elitism..Money and greed trump decency and ethics, every time..
in September 2007 the Ministry of Finance increased the TCD budget by $4.3 million, that needs to be explained by that ministry, if there is no answer forthwith,then that department needs to be investigated,along with the Finance Minister whom should be well aware of million dollar expenditures.
All of you PATHETIC Bermudians (and you are pathetic if you allow this to continue) need to get out there and protest against this f****ng Government. You people are PATHETIC to the Nth degree. Example: Two weeks ago you were all upset about the Uygurs getting a new jobs – now its yesterday’s news and you couldn’t give a crap. You moan and groan but do SH#T!!! Obviously things haven’t got bad enough yet or you’d actually get up off your fat a#ses, stop watching Y&R and DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember you get the Government you deserve.
Remember this all you who voted for these liars, cheats and thieves. We warned you but you called us a bunch of racists.
Enjoy your future in poverty.
RM
Like Grant Gibbons, I also would like to know how the project went from a budgeted $5.3 Million to actually costing $15.23 without raising any flags from anyone in Government? The failures in this project are enormous: tendering polices/procedures were not complied with; the project was not signed off by Cabinet and the terms of the operating agreement were obviously not followed. How Paula Cox could allow this to happen under her watch as Finance Minister is beyond my understanding. Was Ewart Brown that fearsome an individual that everyone in his government just sat back and let all this, and other, nonsense take place on the backs of the Bermudian people? Why did no-one, specifically Paula Cox, speak up when all this was happening? It’s all well and good that she is putting forth all sorts of initiatives now that there’s an election in the offing, but based on past performance, is this the kind of leader Bermuda needs? Who’s to know who’s pushing her buttons this time around?