A tale of corruption; the Myron Walwyn ESHS wall- Report
The price tag for the wall, according to Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Honourable D. Orlando Smith (AL), was $1.6M.
The Education Minister’s Permanent Secretary, who is the accounting officer for her Ministry, said, as part of the wall investigation, she had little to do with the Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) Wall, as it was the exclusive domain and pet project of Hon Walwyn.
In the Auditor General's, Ms. Sonia M. Webster, investigation, she confirmed the project was managed by the Ministry for Education and Culture, which outsourced these duties to an independent contractor without adequate oversight or the involvement of the Ministry of Finance Project Management Unit or the Public Works Department.”
The Auditor General stated that “the list of contractors used on the project was provided by the Minister for Education and Culture. There was no consultation with the Ministry of Finance Project Management Unit or the Public Works Department to receive a copy of the authorized contactors.”
Myron Walwyn broke the law & defy Cabinet
Mr Walwyn broke the law, as he was in violation of the Government’s Public Finance Management Regulations, where it “requires government officers to obtain a list of pre-qualified contractors from the Ministry of Finance for procurement services and construction works where there has been no tender process.”
In more alarming details in the Special Report, Ms Webster stated that PWD, “who is equipped to provide architectural, quantity surveying, contracting and project management services was not involved.”
She noted that “PWD regularly undertakes wall construction projects of this type and could have designed, planned and supervised the works without additional costs of a private project manager.”
With a deliberate attempt to keep other government agencies out, Mr Walwyn hired SA Architects.
The Auditor General noted that the Ministry of Finance Project Management Unit was not engaged “despite Cabinet’s requirement that the Ministry should involve this Unit to assist with the Management of the project.”
Minister Defied
The Ministry for Education and Culture defied Cabinet and had SA Architect, “perform all technical aspects of the project and provided supervision of its implementation” she wrote.
The tale of violation continues, as Ms Webster stated, “there was no segregation of duties or secondary checks....This allowed for incongruences in the bill of quantities to go uncorrected and contactors to be paid for unfinished work, resulting in a project that was incomplete and over-costed.”
Wall costs, up some 65 per cent, as to public works rate, in her detailed report the Auditor General stated that analysis indicated the PWD construction costs varied from $175.26 to $236.01 per square yard.
“The average cost per square yard for PWD reinforced block wall was $201.14 compare with the cost per square yard of the ESHS perimeter wall which was $530.23. In some cases the Hon Walwyn small wall price according to the report doubled and tribble over market value.
In the tale of corruption, the report stated that rails which were mounted in a 10 feet by 3 feet area above the short walls, were costed for 70 square feet; the actual computed area is 30 square feet. Wall painting was costed at 80 square yards; the actual computed area was 32.4 square yard (both sides)
If this was not enough the, “rust prime and pint bars was costed for 33 square yards but actuallly computed it is 6.6 square yard (both sides)” according to the ESHS Wall report.
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45 Responses to “A tale of corruption; the Myron Walwyn ESHS wall- Report ”
I WOULD JUST A
SAY FORGET IT RETIRE AND DONE YOU DID TWO TERMS ALREADY
Thinkin bout who mite come up d hill Lol
It gets more and more embarrassing to constantly hear, 'anything goes in the BVI'. How can this stigma be removed if this is what we are getting from elected representatives, who should know better, and who should be setting example? The government is supposed to be guided by the Protocols for Effective Financial Management, but the case above shows that this was cunningly circumvented. The number of contractors used on the project, as reported in other online stories, is scandalous (around 70-80). Checks and balances went through the window; Payroll Tax, Social Security and NHI compliance were effectively skirted, the standards of work the 'contractors' were capable of performing was ignored and most likely significantly breached, and the list goes on and on. To add insult to injury, the perpetrator ran to clear their 'good' name, no doubt forgetting that two wrongs can never make a right.
This is wasteful spending, and it is obvious that it was done to garner supporters and votes - at taxpayers' expense.
Only, only, only in the BVI. If certain politicians feel and act as if they are above the law and are getting away with it, how can this place get any better? And we call these people honourable?
It is only in the BVI people can flaunt wrongdoings and are still held in high esteem. It is about time this nonsense stops and wrongdoers are appropriately punished. Until this happens, this place will continue to be like the wild, Wild West, with no regard for law and order.