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Auditor General demanding Treasury Accounts for 2012 & 2013!
Mrs Sonia M. Webster, the Virgin Islands’ Auditor General, was at the time last year testifying before the House of Assembly Select Standing Finance Committee to examine the Draft Estimates for the year 2015.
In her presentation to the body, Mrs Webster complained strongly that she cannot complete her regular audit programme because she is yet to receive the Treasury Accounts for 2012 and 2013. The Auditor General described this development as a “major setback”.
She further told the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) that not getting this information has resulted in having a “zero in the submitted budget where it says Audit Treasury Accounts.”
Not receiving the Government Treasury Accounts has meant, according to Mrs Webster, that her work is held up and she told the SFC as a result of the information not being provided it “limited on what they could do until they receive those statements”.
What are the Treasury Accounts?
The Treasury Accounts will show the revenue and expenditure for a period, in this case 2012 and 2013, of the first two years of the NDP in power. These are the actual Accounts of the Territory and will go a far way to further debunk the NDP theory that the country was left broke by the previous Administration.
It will also prove or disprove the reckless spending by the NDP as alleged by the Virgin Islands Party Opposition.
The law calls for the Accounts of the Treasury to be audited and it remains unclear why the Auditor General is having challenges obtaining the accounts report from the Treasury Department for the first two years of a NDP Administration that promised “government in the sunshine”.
A few months ago, the Accountant General Dr Sandra M. Besson who, working with the Financial Secretary and the Minister of Finance are responsible for submitting the report, called it quits after just a year on the job of a three-year contract. The story was first and accurately broken by Virgin Islands News Online.
The Auditor General has gained the public attention with some recent hard hitting Audit Reports. The one that has captivated the public’s attention is her Audit of the Ports Development Project.
In this report, she concluded that the project was filled with conflict of interest, breaking of laws, corruption and that no one was looking out for the public’s interest.
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29 Responses to “Auditor General demanding Treasury Accounts for 2012 & 2013!”
When are we going to stop hiding behind politics and put these lazy civil servants on blast. What is holding up the reports form treasury? The people need to do their jobs properly and stop hiding behind the ministers.
Crime is crime; if I am employed lets say at a bank and the manger finds wrong-doing more than likely the police will be called in to investigate my wrong-doings; here we have elected officials not complying and nothing is done about such blatant disregard for law & order…these are the ones that stands up in the house of assembly and pass of manner of laws….crime is crime(be it white-collar or petty crime)
P*t*, take a damn seat! When VIP in power you never see or hear from you, just hush from pretending as if you give a $h!t about the BVI. You are bitter about your petty issues and that's that. Move along, for you have no clue what you are talking about.
so you disagree that the responsibility of government (regardless of who) is to make life for the community better? That the government should follow the constitution and that everyone is bound to following laws equally? Do you say that there are two sets of rules for governing-- one for the humble and one for the powerful? And finally, are you saying that you don't agree reporters should be able to do their jobs and that government should be transparent? Hmmmm... that is too bad for the territory if that is true. I'm sorry if my concern over the government seems "petty" to you.
the auditor general is the lone voice in the wilderness willing to speak out!
Where is the follow up story on the Auditor General waiting for the same information under VIP for three years and never got it? At some point the persons responsible for these jobs must be held accountable. Yes the Minister of Finance is responsible overall but what about the senior officials in the Treasury Dept and other areas. They get no blame for this? It is just like blaming the DPP for losing cases when the Police botch the investigative side of things. Keep changing political parties and leaving the same old guard to do the actual jobs, let's see what difference it will make. The problem with our civil service is that its easy to hide behind the Ministers. These PS and other Senior persons are being paid big money and have big responsibilities but we hardly ever see/hear them being held responsible for anything, that is WRONG! A good example is BVIEC, why should they give a #$%%when the Minister at any given time for MCW will always get the blame for what happens there. The Audit Dept, same thing, AG Chambers, same thing. The lay down on the legislation drafting and the Government gets the blame.
Many of us want to be sure we know the results of all inquiries BEFORE the next general election. In recent years, the Governor's office has seen fit to ensure that inquiries and reports are delayed until AFTER elections! What's the point? Please do your job and do it in a timely fashion! We are waiting.
Thats truly a slippery slope they are walking and it may be time to hand out jail terms for non compliance.