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by pltm
(PLTM) - The Auditor General’s Special Report into the Elmore Stoutt High School’s (ESHS) perimeter wall, which raised much controversy for Minister of Education, Hon. Myron Walwyn, will be laid in the House of Assembly (HoA) for debate on Thursday, December 13, and the Minister says that he is not afraid of the report.
“I am not afraid of the wall matter and I will defend it, and I know I am right,” Hon. Walwyn declared yesterday, December 10.
That audit report was publicized by Hon. Walwyn in an attempt to defend himself and his Ministry against the findings of the report. However, that publication was a breach of protocol, which led to Governor Augustus Jaspert requesting an apology from the Minister.
The audit report stated that despite it being a project which incurred a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) was ostracised from the management and execution of the project, in some cases as a result of directives of Minster of Education, Hon. Myron Walwyn.
It has also highlighted a number of discrepancies and red flags in the execution of the project, one being that the Finance Ministry was seemingly snubbed from the project from the planning phase.
These discrepancies include failure to follow proper procurement requirements, which had 70 contractors and moved from the original cost of $828,000 to $985,000 to date.
In continuing to attempt to justify the increased cost of the wall, which is still incomplete, Hon. Walwyn pointed to other projects which he said cost more than the budgeted sum, among these the new Peebles Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.
“Look at the bridge on Beef Island; it went millions of dollars over. Look at the very same hospital, the one the Ministers are touting now,” he said.
The hospital had an initial budget of $10 million, but ended up attracting a bill of over $100 million.
“Are we to believe that persons and those Ministers that worked in those ministries stole money? Are we to believe that they deliberately mismanaged money? No, we have to look at systems in Government,” he stated.
He went on to say, “Ministers don’t do projects. A Minister brings a concept paper across the table in Cabinet for approval.”
