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Hon. Barrow Calls Hon. J Espat A "Liar"
posted (November 14, 2012)
Over the past two days - you've heard a lot about the Public Accounts Committee - the meeting that never was, and the aftermath of recrimination, with both sides blaming the other.

Today, the Prime Minister weighed in.

He explained that Committee Chairman, PUP Representative Julius Espat had been referred to Government's legal advisor Gian Ghandi for legal advice on how to make a committee meeting public.

The PM says Espat ignored the advice and then lied about the entire episode:

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"Ghandi pointed out to him that the standing orders don't allow for that to happen, except if the committee votes otherwise, and asked him to insert a new agenda item to deal with a resolution for the work of the committee to be done in public. It can happen. Mr. Espat said that he would do that. I don't know if thereafter, he figured, 'Well, if I introduce that resolution, the UDP won't vote to support it', or whether he simply thought, 'Look, let me try and make some mileage. Let me unilaterally, illegally, and improperly invite the media, and declare that the meeting will be held in public. He turned around and said, 'Oh, well, I didn't ask for a resolution because I thought that we had done it at the last meeting, although the minutes don't reflect it. He's lying because when he spoke to Ghandi, he knew that nothing had been done to, as it were, ask for a public hearing, and that is why he agreed that he would put it on the agenda, so that it could be done at the first meeting. So, he's lying. We are going to support that the Committee meet in public - of course, there will be some logistical difficulties - certainly, the media can be there. I don't know - the meeting room might not be able to accommodate as many people as those who may want to be there, but at the least, the principle that it should meet in public, we will support because there is nothing to hide. The current Auditor General's report speaks as to some difficulties and challenges in Government. It doesn't indict any UDP politician, and what Mr. Espat needs to recognize, and what I need to point out to the media and the public now is this, there are several auditor generals' reports, going back to 2000, or something like that, and you will treat these things in the proper sequence. Don't think, I'm not a member of the Committee, but this will certainly be my advice to our members, don't think that you can jump the cue, and say, 'Let us focus on the one that's just been submitted. What about the one that was submitted last year, the year before, what about the ones that were submitted when your party, Mr. Espat, was in government. No man, let's treat with them each in turn."

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