Last night, during the press conference to announce the initial decision to lower water rates, John Avery, the chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, opened the floor to questions about their most recent audit, and allegations of reckless public spending.
You heard him complain about the press coverage on it, describing that coverage as irresponsible and sensational. Well, tonight, we have his answers to the specific allegations about him and the other commissioners on the PUC.
We start first his response to the allegation he and the commissioners are being grossly over-compensated, to the point of fleecing the public purse. Yesterday, he asserted that actually, he and the commissioners are underpaid for all the work they do. Here’s how he explained why:
John Avery - Chairman, PUC
"Without holding taxes I must say this is something I have to agree with the auditor when he says that there were certain taxes that we did not withhold and I will say that in this instance it's not only the PUC. I think a lot of people in Belize are of the opinion that once you are employed anywhere that is related to government, gratuities are not taxable. The original intend for gratuities is so that these entities can compete with the private sector in terms of recruitment. Consider who we have to compete with to hire people, BEL, BTL, BWS, these places they have so much more resources than us and not only that they expertise that we need the people working in these place don't want to regulate utilities. A senior engineer his entire life wanted to practice engineering so for us to say get a good engineer from BEL to move over to PUC.... man I don't think we can pay them enough. In fact recently we had an electricity director and BEL made them an offer we couldn't match and then it's not only that. He told us plain if we could match it, that has been his career choice all his life. If he had to choose between the two he would go to BEL, any ways so we are of the impression that gratuities offer the contract officers were not taxable. We understand that to be so now, the effect will be is that we won't give contracts with gratuity anymore, we would probably just instead dock that compensation include in the salaries because otherwise there is no real benefit or real advantage to paying gratuities to anyone else if it's going to be taxable just as your salary is taxable.”
He then went on to the concern of the PUC’s Auditor that the commissioners were NOT withholding taxes on salaries and benefits. This one, the Chairman conceded, explaining, that the PUC was laboring under the wrong impression that gratuity is not taxable. Avery explained that this change will make it difficult for the PUC to attract the highly trained professionals needed to regulate the different public utilities. Here’s how he explained why:
John Avery
"As far as the item credit card expenditures. As far as I know I don't know what is a credit card expenditure. To me the credit card expenditure basically are the fees and that sort of thing that you pay to the bank for the credit card, the credit card is a method for payment. As long as the expenses are properly authorized and they are expenses of the commission, whether you pay cash, you pay cheque or credit card; just a form of payment. In that thing the auditor did question whether or not... basically the PUC may want to consider whether or not it needs a credit card any at all. That he withdrew that recommendation within 2 minutes of talking with him. These days all these licenses, all these software, all these updates, everything we need to pay for they can only be done online, they have to be done with a credit card. A lot of items that we have to procure to monitor service quality or what ever, those things aren't available in Belize you have to order them from foreign, you have to pay with a credit card. You can go to the bank and wait 3, 4 weeks to get something to... but you need the item and you will order it with the credit card, it's a very convenient method of payment. Like I said all the expenses were expenses of the PUC that were properly authorized, the credit card was just a form of payment.”
And, on the last issue, which caught our attention back when these leaked documents first surfaced, the chairman answered questions about the credit card expenditures of over $70,000.
In his management letter, Auditor Cedric Flowers said, quote, “Several of the expenditures were of a nature which did not appear to have any direct relationship to the activities of the PUC.”
John Avery told us yesterday, that there is no mis-spending on that credit card. Here’s how he insisted that all purchase were properly approved:
John Avery
"Then about commissioners getting 12.50 to attend meetings. Man you sit in a meeting anywhere from 5 to 9 hours. The law says you have to experts in legal law, engineering, different things. You take a lawyer that worth his salt you'll pay 800 dollars an hour right and not only that, you have to pay him additional for what ever advice he gives you. So an attorney sitting in a meeting giving us advice based on basically free and collecting maybe 200 dollars an hour. Whereas he could be in his office collecting 600 to a thousand dollars an hour plus retainers and that sort of thing. Then compare what we pay to other people in the Caribbean, you'll find that we are at the bottom of the scale but guess what, we are the only regulator in the entire Caribbean that regulates all 3 sectors, plus deal with spectrum management. We have regulators in smaller lands making double what I get as a salary and they are just regulating telecommunications for example. I'll tell you the truth, a lot of people we talk to think we are all underpaid. The amount of things the PUC does that we're not required to do. We try to invest in our people with this young innovators programme. The PUC is the only regulation in the world that set up an internet exchange point in its country. I might want to agree with a lot of people that we are underpaid. Some of the totals are not... totals involving me for example, I wish I was making 1.9 million dollars from PUC (laugh). I wish that! You understand what I'm saying. Those things are inaccurate right and like I said I have never been paid in any calendar year or any one year 150 thousand dollars by the PUC.”
As to the final audit document which the PUC handed us, we’re still reviewing it at this time.
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