Flax-Charles gets some praises in COVID Grants report

Although the House of Assembly COVID-19 Assistance Grants Audit Report revealed several instances of mismanagement of funds, it did applaud former Territorial-At-Large Representative Shereen Flax-Charles for her handling of some funds.

The audit report said one of the guidelines for the stimulus programme dictated that funds were to be paid directly to the third party on behalf of the applicant where it was practicable to do so. 

This meant that loans, rent and utilities could be paid directly to vendors instead of being given to applicants. This was to ensure the grant funds were used for the intended purposes.

But the report pointed out that overall, “direct payment to vendors was not strictly enforced”, even in areas where it could have been done.

The audit singled out Flax-Charles as the leader who made the greatest attempt to issue payments to third parties where it was possible.

Flax-Charles consistently issued third party payments in her grant awards, according to the report. It said her compliance rate in this area was four times that of former Premier Andrew Fahie who was one of the worst offenders in this area.

The report showed that Flax-Charles awarded a combined total of $83,052 — the largest sum for rent and utilities. Of this amount, she paid 87.5 per cent directly to the vendors. 

“The effect of this was greater accountability and a larger pool of individuals served from the funds,” the report stated.

Flax-Charles also made 27 grant payments for applicants’ loan delinquency relief, 26 of which were paid directly to the financial institutions. 

“Overall, Honourable Flax-Charles was able to issue from her allotment the greatest number of assistance grants, and did so with the added assurance that these funds were applied for the purpose that they were issued,” the report added.

Flax-Charles lost some points

Although she was praised for her handling of the personal grants, Flax-Charles was called out in the report for her handling of grants given for district projects.

The report said the former legislator undertook multiple community projects totalling $54,370.60. However, she retained one contractor to undertake five projects but no contracts or other binding agreements were signed to ensure that these were completed and done to an acceptable standard.

The report said there was also no evidence of comparative quotes to ensure that the government was receiving the best possible price for the proposed works Flax-Charles commissioned. 

The audit report also claims that the files did not show any approval from the Financial Secretary or the Minister of Finance for these projects. And it is unclear whether the contractor was paid upfront or after the works were completed.