NASSAU, Bahamas — Prime Minister Philip Davis claimed in the House of Assembly yesterday that $10 million of the Bahamian people’s money earmarked for the Food Distribution Task Force had “simply vanished”, The Nassau Guardian reported on Tuesday, May 17.
“To this day, Madam Speaker, despite numerous requests, two NGOs have still not provided any information at all and, combined, they received more than $10 million,” Davis said. “Madam Speaker, $10 million of the Bahamian people’s money has simply vanished.”
Davis did not name the NGOs, and there was no conclusion made by ATI Company Limited, which conducted an “agreed-upon procedures report” on the program for the government, that more than $10 million had “vanished”.
Davis tabled ATI’s report yesterday.
ATI stated that Lend a Hand Bahamas did not submit requested data “as at the date of this report”.
It added that IDEA Relief “did not submit timely data (submission March 18, 2022) via email in PDF”.
According to the food program “contribution summary” contained in the report, Lend a Hand Bahamas was given $11.5 million (the largest allocation of all NGOs) and IDEA Relief was given $4.4 million for its feeding programs connected with the work of the task force, which was established by the previous administration to help feed the most vulnerable Bahamians during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking in Parliament, the prime minister said, “In the case of the food program, requests for credible documentation of how $53 million was spent have not been answered. To be clear, documents have been provided, but they are not documents that answer the most important questions posed.”
He said, “… In the general findings of the audit report, 18 categories of major deficiencies were noted.
“These ranged from a widespread lack of record-keeping, and widespread inconsistencies relating to the sums of money handled, to a complete absence of minutes being kept of meetings, agreements and actions.
“In other words, although tens of millions of the Bahamian people’s dollars were being spent, not even the most basic safeguards were in place.
“A government that speechified about transparency at great length, and at every opportunity did not conduct even the most basic oversight of a major government initiative.” See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/pm-claims-10-mil-vanished-in-food-program/
