Opposition sees red flags on PWC’s engagement by NDP admin.
His concerns are the same for the numerous alleged misleading statements that are being made in the House of Assembly by the Government as well as concerns over the authenticity of some of the information given by Government in the HoA. A case in point is the response given when the National Democratic Party (NDP) Government was asked about the PricewaterhouseCoopers report and contract in the House of Assembly over the last few sittings.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable D. Orlando Smith during the Ninth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands on May 14, 2013 was presented with a six part question by the Representative of the First District. Hon. Fahie who had sought answers as to whether there were any other contracts or purchase orders awarded by the NDP government to PWC or any of its affiliates in addition to the contract awarded to them to conduct a forensic audit of the Government finances from 2008- 2011. According to Premier Smith, to-date no further contracts or purchase orders were issued to PWC. He, however, stated that while preliminary investigations are being conducted in order to facilitate the further works that must be done in the Treasury Department, it is likely that PWC will be further engaged.
“However, as we must be certain of the details involved in the scope of works to be conducted, we are being very methodical in setting these matters out carefully before contracts are signed and the consequent purchase orders issued. This Madam Speaker is responsible, prudent and correct procurement practice aimed at providing value for money,” said Premier Smith.
In a response to a leading up question by the Representative of the First District, the Premier of the Virgin Island had informed the House that due diligence was performed on PWC before they were engaged. This he said was done by him as Minister of Finance through various sources that commented on the strength of the company as an institution and on the quality of the professional services it offered.
Premier Smith had noted that in addition to that, the CV’s of the professionals assigned to the forensic audit of the government’s finances was checked very carefully in respect to educational and professional qualification and experience of each of the individuals. “I am very pleased with the expertise that PWC brought to bear in respect of the forensic audit. Madam Speaker, you are probably also aware that PWC is one of the largest and most highly respected professional service firms in the world.”
However, Honourable Fahie said the responses given by the Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith “leaves much to be desired.”
Speaking with Virgin Islands News Online, Hon. Fahie said that for the government to give PricewaterhouseCooper a contract in a manner which they (NDP) claimed was done during a fair tender process and to now state that additional works is being proposed to be given to PWC by the NDP Administration without a tender process leaves one to wonder if that wasn’t the initial intent. In addition, he said this proposed course of action seems to be one of contract splitting, which is one of the actions that PWC raised concerns about in their report.
“The initial amount submitted by PWC to the Government, as was stated in the answer given at the House of Assembly on this matter by the Premier, leads one to believe that all works to be done by PWC was factored into their total price of just under $100,000 that was submitted during the alleged fair tender process.” Hon. Fahie further stated that what raises a ‘major red flag’ is that PWC submitted a specific cost of just under $100,000 for the requested works to be done on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands.
“Yet for what we assume is the same works to be done, most of the other tenders were well over $100,000 in total for which a breakdown of the total amount was divided into different phases in their proposal submitted to the Government of the Virgin Islands. This apparent significant disparity raises questions on whether each company was submitting a quote on the same scope of works to be done. This in itself raises a red flag.”
Hon. Fahie said he wanted to make it abundantly clear that the former administration (VIP) has absolutely no objections in having any audit done during its tenure but the audit must be done in a professional manner and substantiated with the necessary official documents rather than insinuating or statements made in a manner with the apparent attempt to cast aspersions on the former (VIP) administration for unfair political gain, which seems to be the employer’s intention.
It was further expressed by Hon. Fahie that there are numerous times that PWC stated clearly in the report that for certain information documented, they have not, to date, been able to get all the necessary paper work from the Government of the day that would allow them to substantiate some of the information. “This leads me to wonder out loud if a conclusion was already written before the audit was attempted and/or completed and in areas where information could not be found to substantiate the already written conclusion(s), a story was told to satisfy the employer’s seemingly malicious intent and ongoing political propaganda theory. It also raises a red flag with the timeframe given to PWC to do the audit which is from 2008 – 2011,” stated Hon. Fahie.
He further added that one would think that if a government’s intention is pure with this type of audit they would have started from 2005 when the new financial management regulation was approved by the House of Assembly and implemented, to current. This, he said, would have allowed for a clear and transparent path to thoroughly examine if all subsequent government(s) to date, have adhered to the regulations and not just the government within the time frame given by the NDP Government to carry out the said audit by PWC.
“I have said over and over and I will say again that once destruction is your motivation, your motivation will become your destruction,” concluded Hon. Fahie.
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