AG had difficulty getting some info for COVID grants audit
Though the recently released House of Assembly (HOA) COVID-19 Assistance Grants Audit Report managed to reveal multiple damning findings, it seems the Auditor General (AG) had made attempts to dig even deeper to unearth exactly what transpired with the funds disbursed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds were disbursed three years ago under the Andrew Fahie administration, but a new report by Auditor General Sonia Webster shows that the process was mismanaged.
One of the things the report shows is that the AG’s office made attempts to retrieve a list of applicants who did not receive any grants. However, elected leaders failed to produce this list so it could be audited.
“The unsuccessful applications were requested but not submitted for audit review. The [HOA] Clerk advised that she was unable to present the applications as they had been returned to the members [of the House of Assembly] and were not returned to her after being requested,” the Auditor General’s report read.
It is unclear why elected leaders failed to present the list of unsuccessful applicants.
Delays
The report also said the audit was delayed because the database that was needed for the audit was incomplete. The Auditor General said this was eventually corrected but resulted in delays.
A total of $3,885,074 was awarded across 2,276 grants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Auditor General Webster concluded that there was a general lack of adherence to all the programme’s guidelines and in many cases, grants were given even though there was no evidence of need or that issues were brought on by the effects of COVID-19.
The audit has shaken the territory as it represents another example of mismanagement of public funds by elected leaders. Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has rejected some assertions made in the report while Governor John Rankin has hailed the AG for the findings.
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Well, fancy that?
Because the VIP tried to cover the whole thing up. Set ah fraudsters!
I WISH THIS LIST WAS RELEASED BEFORE ELECTION
The reason that there is no paper work for failed applicants is that no applications failed – it was a bonanza for everybody who applied, and more so if the applicant was related to a senior public officer.
No backyard fires there then just plenty of SMOKE
i am a fisherman all my life more than 50 years and I did not get 1 red cent
The “clark” sounds incompetent to me and should be relieved of her duties. All applications came to her so she should have seen these duplicates and kept proper records of what was received, approved and denied, with reasons included. It was a simple process yet she failed and trying to blame the Ministers. They could not have gotten this done without her help and the help of those in the Ministry of Finance/Treasury. They should all be investigated and fired if proven to have failed the public. We no longer trust them to manage public funds. Breach of public trust!!
https://bvinews.com/auditor-general-blocked-because-premiers-ps-felt-audit-was-too-early/
Sensing a pattern here.
WE HAVE A SCRIPT WRITER FROM HOLLYWOOD , BECAUSE THOSE WANNABE ARISTOCRATS ( AKA ) POLITICIANS REALLYDID A NICE JOB OF NICING WHAT THEY DID WITH OUR TAXPAYERS MONEY / THEY DIDN’T MANAGE COVER UP SOME OF THEIR TRACKS , SO THEY HAD TO PLAY HOLY ON WHAT WAS EXPOSED BY THE LADY , BUT SHE AIN’T NO SCAPEGOAT , , SHE HAS INTEGRITY , AND IS DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED OF ANYONE WHO IS THAT POSITION IS SUPPOSED TO DO / ALL RESPECT TO YOU , IF WE HAD MORE PEOPLE IN THE GOVERNMENT LIKE THAT , THEN WE WON’T BE IN THIS PREDICAMENT ( AKA ) NON STOP EXPLOITATION ) THAT IS GOING ON NOW , NO OFFENCE
I think it is that:
1. They immediately discarded applicants they didn’t want to give fund too, so they literally do not have them anymore. It would be such a perfectly BVI thing.
2. The number of people who applied and were silently denied is extremely large and it would make the situation look worse.
@ Clerk. Your point is valid but check the list and you will see how many times her sister and nephews appear on the different lists and got financial assistance. The whole thing with the distribution of the taxpayers money was a well defined orchestrated scheme to benefit the supporters of the VIP, their families, friends and cronies. Bottom line is that some one needs to be held accountable for this money and they all need to pay it back.
in many cases, grants were given even though there was no evidence of need or that issues were brought on by the effects of COVID-19.
I wonder whose family got those grants?
The report shows that Kadeem Maynard received $17,726 (from HOA, fishers and farmers) and his mother, Oleanivine Maynard received $8,000 via Head Coach for house repairs.
Questions needs to be asked about who else signed off on these payments and why because these two have now pleaded guilty. Who else knew what they were up to with Head Coach and did this influence these payments being made to them.
Not true: if you were a non-BVIslander you didn’t even get a response to your request let alone a rejection letter. Plenty foreign-owned business (which had BVIslander employees) applied got nada.
Should have a tecod of all who applied were issued grants and denied.
They are hard on othet people and denied askink for details she was either afraid for her job or afraid to say No
To head coach . Now she is making up by questioning everything… Too late you all are exposed
You should have kept copies of the lists you gave the ministers to cross check the applicants name.
Those payments aren’t even bad in comparison to the fully employed contract employee, getting a pension, who got money for everything under the sun — small business, hurricane repairs and hurricane preparedness to name a few. That is obscene. Also, the amount allotted to the Honorable grocery store needs to be more adequately explained.