The UBP has chimed in following the Auditor’s Report. No matter what type of “Plantation discount” you might try to apply to them, their points are valid and must be listened to. The Bermuda Government is falling down on basic managerial controls. Government’s Code of Conduct states:
“The individual responsibility of a Minister for the work of his or her Ministry means that… he/she is answerable for all acts and omissions and… for any defect of administration.”
This means that our Government and its Ministers must start holding officials responsible for late or incomplete reporting of financial information.
This also means that Government must start issuing consolidated financial statements as recommended by accounting institutes, and agreed to by the Finance Ministry itself, and supported by the bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts.
There’s some information warfare at play here: the Auditor’s Report is still not publicly available, while the Minister’s “damage control” reply has been plastered all over the qlq and gov.bm websites.
