At least a dozen people had access to a letter from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Premier Ralph O’Neal, and the letter “could have been leaked to a member of the public” by any of them, according to a statement released by the Governor’s Office.
The full report of the investigation by Complaints Commissioner Elton Georges will not be made public; according to the statement from Governor Boyd McCleary’s office, the report “deals with matters relating to the security of documents.”
The statement adds that the letter was not marked as confidential or restricted and “was stored in an open manner.”
The report found that the letter “arrived safely in the Premier’s Office and was recorded as having been received on the day it was passed,” according to the statement. The Premier’s Office staff then sent an electronic copy to the BVI House in London, but there was no record that it was received, the statement adds.
“On the basis of the electronic records available, the investigation could not determine what went wrong with that exchange,” according to the statement.
Mr. Georges recommended a review of document security, with special attention to electronic data management—a recommendation accepted by the governor. The statement does not address the question of whether Mr. O’Neal himself received the letter.
See the April 7, 2011 edition for full coverage.