7 News Belize

Auditor General Tells Hon. Espat She’s Busy
posted (October 21, 2014)
And speaking of the PUP Deputy in the West, Auditor General Dorothy Ann Bradley responded to Julius Espat after he asked her to investigate government spending of Petrocaribe funds.

As we told you ten days ago, Espat - who is the chair of the Public Accounts Committee - wrote to Bradley asking her to investigate the 114 million US dollar loan motion which has been put before the House. He says the government is seeking "retroactive validation" from parliament for money that has already been borrowed.

Well, the Auditor General responded four days ago - and it seems she was not moved. She said the loan motion is before the House - and it would be, quote, "premature for me…to raise concerns about the correctness and the procedure for borrowing." End quote. That basically means that until and unless the loan motion is approved in the house, she cannot investigate.

She closes by saying, quote "I am sure that the (public accounts)) committee is aware of this office's resource constraints…however you can rest assured that I will do my duty as prescribed by law in respect of this situation." End quote.

But that's not good enough for Chairman Espat, it seems. Via phone, he told us today, quote, "It just confirms to me that we have a non-functioning office of the auditor general because it's not independent." End quote.

So, what's next in the opposition to the Petrocaribe borrowing? Espat told us the two options we laid out to him - the streets or the courts - are still on the table and both are being pursued.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize