New Tobago party, the Tobago Forwards, has accused the PNM-controlled Tobago House of Assembly of “mismanaging and misappropriating billions” in public funds and called for a forensic probe of THA’s accounts.
The party’s interim political leader Christlyn Moore, a former justice minister,made the call at a press conference yesterday at Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain, on what she deemed the flagrant abuses and untenable state of affairs in the THA’s public financial accounting as highlighted in the 2006 report of the Auditor General of the THA’s financial statements.
This latest report was submitted to Parliament last month.
Moore said the last auditor general’s report over 2003 to 2006 reveals a $1 billion discrepancy over the period the PNM- controlled THA was in office.
She added: “I believe that past action is the best device to assess future behaviour and given the six-to-eight-year lag in the reporting, the public doesn’t need to speculate about the current state of affairs of the THA’s finances.
“In every year under review the auditor general’s states she is unable to form an opinion on whether the THA’s financial statements fairly present the state of affairs if the THA for the relevant period.
“What that means is the auditor general is unable to tell the public what is the true state of the use /or misuse of state funds and that the report is her best guess on the basis of the lack of materials presented.”
What was of violent concern, Moore added, was that the auditor general had indicated that she refused to express an opinion on THA’s financials and was unable to find enough audit evidence to do an audit
“And on the paucity of information she was unable to verify sums in excess of $1 million (in 2006), that means she cannot say how this money was used,” she added.
Moore called for criminal prosecuting or otherwise sanctioning of elected/appointed office holders where indicated and immediate resignation of THA Chief Secretary Orville London “under whose continued uninterrupted stewardship this outrageous state of affairs was allowed to take place and flourish.”
Detailing some of the contents of the AG’s report, Moore noted that in 2003 millions were transferred to a contingency account” even before it was determined there was a surplus, other sums were used to make unauthorised payments, $33.6 million could not be verified due to failure to present documents, other sums were withdrawn without authority and also for no purpose.
In 2004, she noted, similar occurrences, including $3.3 million paid to the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) in Tobago and Cepep without documents, sums paid and invested with private companies, $39 million spent contrary to the THA Act and $10 million could not be verified. Similar issues were noted in 2005, she said.
Moore said there was an alarming trend in divisions spending in THA’s nine divisions, “with an exponential and explosive trend upward in divisional excess over the three year period.”
She also cited alarming continuing irregularities concerning fixed assets with discrepancies in the fixed net asset accounting, including in 2003 some $74 million in discrepancies.
That included omission of $32 million for school construction; understating by $2 million on the acquisition of a property to which there was no deed; a $3 million variance in the office equipment figure between the THA and its divisions, she added.
In 2004, Moore cited $10.5 million in discrepancies, including purchase of land not evidence by deeds, giving $8 million in expenditure as “revenue.”
In 2005 there was $131 million in discrepancies, including land purchase without sign of deed, inability to verify expenditure over $20 million, inexplicable omission of capital expenditure of over $105 million. In all years the auditor general was unable to verify the THA’s claims of fixed assets, she added.
Moore said in years 2003 to 2006, THA’s statements revealed unspent balances ranging from $94 million to $237.6 million.
She noted: “In fact between 2000 and 2012 the THA reported $18.6 billion in revenue, $16.7 billion in expenditure and $1.9 billion in balances.
“The auditor general’s report revealed that every year there are extensive unauthorised incursions into this account and its management is completely contrary to the THA Act.
“In 2015 there have been several calls to state agencies in Trinidad to account for monies spent, surely there will be a call to the THA to account for all these sums... no matter where public sums are spent, they remain public funds...the public has a right to demand an account
“It has become a critical matter because if we are to receive buy-in from the national population on internal self government, it cannot be in a landscape where we Tobagonians, in a serial manner cannot account for public funds,” Moore added.
London said while there were shortcomings which the THA’s chief administrator’s report on the auditor general’s findings the concerns raised by the auditor general’s report were addressed by THA’s chief administrator.
He said that person wasn’t a politician and was not in the post in 2006. The contingency account report is on THA’s Web site.