"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
The government tendered fewer than half of the major contracts it awarded between 2019 and 2022, and it often passed over the lowest offer for the rest, according to a …
Continue reading “Audit blasts 2019-2022 contracting procedures”
The debate last Thursday in the House of Assembly drew a sharp rebuke from a previous target of Auditor General Sonia Webster. On Tuesday, the Beacon received a statement from …
At elected leaders’ discretion, the government awarded nearly $23 million in assistance grants between January 2019 and May 2022 without adequate accountability or transparency, including more than $200,000 to one …
When will politicians learn? Once again, Auditor General Sonia Webster has carried out her mandate with exacting professionalism. In two recent reports that should make taxpayers’ blood boil, she alleged …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: The auditor general is a hero. Heed her advice.”
When tabling an auditor general report that alleges consultant Claude Skelton-Cline did little to deliver contracted work for the government despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars over two and …
The government paid $2.04 million to EZ Shipping Limited to rent barges for five months of border security services in 2020 and 2021 — including $738,000 for about two months …
Continue reading “EZ Shipping barges cost government $2 million”
The recent Commission of Inquiry reported finding evidence that the Premier’s Office under former Premier Andrew Fahie may have obstructed government auditors investigating Covid-19 assistance programmes. A new law is …
The Office of the Auditor General has received and reviewed the Treasury Department’s financial statements for 2017 and hoped to have long-delayed audits for that year completed in 2021, Auditor …
We have reported extensively about the injustice and egregious lack of transparency surrounding the government’s Covid-19 economic stimulus package. The reality, it seems, is even worse than we thought. Our …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Big up the auditor general for stimulus report”
The Premier’s Office “deliberately resisted” providing information on “excessive amounts” spent on the Covid-19 farming and fishing stimulus despite numerous requests from Auditor General Sonia Webster, she told the Commission …
Continue reading “Auditor general blasts farmer, fisher grants”
Speaker of the House Julian Willock kicked off the 11th sitting of the House of Assembly on June 26 by seeking a formal apology from Governor Gus Jaspert regarding a …
When then-Premier Dr. Orlando Smith unveiled a partnership with BVI Airways in January 2016, he promised that government’s $7 million “investment” in the no-bid deal would bring much-needed direct flights …
Continue reading “Special Report: Auditor general condemns BVI Airways deal”
Last week in the House of Assembly, elected leaders delayed the Consumer Protection Bill and other government business and spent at least 10 hours debating a motion to “reprimand” Governor …
The auditor general’s special report on the government’s failed deal with BVI Airways was required by law to be tabled in the House of Assembly no later than last Thursday. …
After the auditor general’s scathing report on the Elmore Stoutt High School perimeter wall, Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn and his ministry should have apologised and promised to do …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: ESHS wall is one example of a much bigger problem”
The Ministry of Education and Culture, led by Minister Myron Walwyn, broke the law when constructing the incomplete perimeter wall around Elmore Stoutt High School in 2014 and 2015, overspending …
Continue reading “Walwyn’s ESHS wall project broke the law, audit states”
In 2012, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour issued four contracts for the development of the now-nonoperational BVI Fishing Complex, covering the installation of equipment such as walk-in freezers, …
Continue reading “Audits criticise “pervasive” government contract splitting”
