Franklyn rebukes Government for silence on Auditor General’s report

Government has been slammed for not only failing to address the damning contents of the latest Auditor General’s report but also its response to public calls for it to do so.

Outspoken trade unionist Caswell Franklyn characterised the government’s response thus far as “arrogant” and laid the blame at the doorsteps of Barbadians who are not demanding that the Mia Mottley administration address the public on the matter.

“The problem is that most Bajans are cowards. They don’t want to do anything to offend so they want somebody to do it for them,” he said in an interview with Barbados TODAY.

“And….[the Government] will come and attack and they believe that that kind of attack will get their base going, then their base will try to cower you into silence.”

Franklyn’s comments came after Minister of Energy and Business Development Kerrie Symmonds, speaking in the House of Assembly last Friday, accused President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood of playing politics in calling on the Government to address the report which identified a range of discrepancies and questionable practices in the management of public finances.

“You can’t just feel that public life is only about stirring up furore and inciting panic and strife. That is how this country, unfortunately, was back in the 60s and 50s, but people now are a little bit more discerning and expect a little bit more,” Symmonds said at the time, as he also made indirect swipes at President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne, and attorney-at-law and utility regulation specialist Tricia Watson who have publicly knocked legislative and other changes related to electricity generation in Barbados.

The recently released Auditor General’s report examined the accounts of the ministries and departments of government in respect of the financial year ended March 31, 2019 and pointed out several anomalies. These included the absence of cheques, financial statements and other crucial information which Auditor General Leigh Trotman said would not make it possible for the auditors to verify the correctness of the accounts for a significant portion of the assets.

Franklyn insisted that someone in authority needed to come out and speak on the findings of the report.

“But they just can’t leave it out there in the lurch . . . . Mind you, I have not decided one way whether it is true or false but . . . . Government must come out and say that is not true and this is the actual situation, but in some instances it might very well be true. Instead, the minister got up in the House and poured scorn on Tricia Watson and Trevor Browne. I have great respect for Tricia Watson and I took serious offence at him trying to impugn their characters,” he said.

The former Senator also took issue with authorities not informing the public about the cost associated with the new Trident national identification cards.

He described as “supreme arrogance” Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology Davidson Ishmael’s refusal to disclose Government’s bill for producing the cards which will replace the old plastic ID cards.

Speaking to another section of the media, Ishmael had said he would not be pressured to prematurely release the figures.

“I am going to provide the public with the costs related to this project very soon,” he had said, adding that when the cost was eventually made public, it would include a comprehensive breakdown of everything involved.

“We have the information relative to the cost [but] that information is spread across many financial years, many different components, many different agencies, departments and ministries.”

However, Franklyn said that was not good enough.

“His response is arrogance,” he said.

“Government always does things backwards. You do not do something and then try to find out how much it costs, you work out the costs and everything and see if it is feasible and then you start the project. You don’t build a house and discover halfway through you ain’t got no money.

“It should have been costed before and put to the Estimates so that the world would know how much it cost when they roll it out. That is what a government does, that is how government is run,” Franklyn added. (KC)