Ombudsman Delays Corporation Report

Arlene Brock, Ombudsman for Bermuda, announced today [Sept 13] that she had to delay tabling the report on her investigation of the Corporation of Hamilton as her  Certification of Contempt of Court is before the Supreme Court.

A statement from the Ombudsman said, “Due to the fact that my Certification of Contempt of Court by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor is before the Supreme Court, I have had to delay tabling the report on my investigation of the Corporation of Hamilton from the September sitting of Parliament to November.”

On March 20th the Ombudsman announced that she was launching a Systemic Investigation into the Corporation of Hamilton on her own motion in the public interest.

A statement from the Ombudsman in March said, “Allegations brought to her office include lack of transparency, inadequate governance and lack of public consultation – generally [e.g. operational decisions made beyond remit of the Board] and particularly [regarding the proposed waterfront development project].

On Tuesday [Sept 10], “in order to clear up any misinformation that is in the public domain”, the Corporation of Hamilton announced its action timeline in relation to the City waterfront project.

“The Corporation is continuing to work with Government to provide the necessary documents for its due diligence review and the developers are currently working on the first drawdown of funds”, a Corporation spokesperson said.

On Wednesday [Sept 11], in response to the Corporation’s announcement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs said, “Concerns regarding the Request For Proposal [RFP] process, the work flowing from the Ombudsman’s investigation and Municipalities Reform have all been topics of discussion. And the Ministry anxiously awaits the outcome of the Ombudsman’s submission.”

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