Following his recent call for an investigation into Opposition Leader, Jamale Pringle’s contractual arrangements with the solid waste department, Prime Minister Gaston Browne is now looking towards a wider investigation into the operations at National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
Possible collusion, alleged contract “kickbacks” and even negligence will be at the forefront of the pending investigation.
While Browne commended Health Minister Molwyn Joseph for his works, he pointed out that he was not particularly pleased with solid waste department.
“in that particular division in his ministry [NSWMA], I am not satisfied that we’re getting good value for money.” said Browne.
He continued, “whomever he has to move where there is proven collusion, fire them. Where there is evidence… and I don’t like to fire people. But, when you [steal] government money, that’s a different ballgame.”
Browne went on to suggest staff rotations within the department to increase alertness as staff working in the same position for a long time tend to “not pay attention”.
“I think there has to be some rotation as well, because when you have people in the same position verifying these contracts, and not paying attention, or looking in another direction and allowing these abuses to take place, we have to take action against them,” Browne offered.
The prime minister argues that several invoices have been made out to the department with no change in the description of the work done from one invoice to another or from one month to another.
The department employs around 100 privately-contracted trucks working six days a week and according to the prime minister, “the country isn’t any cleaner than when we had individuals going around cleaning the country.”
“The actual description of the work that was done remains the same, and we know that that amount of work would not have been available… We have strong reason to believe that those invoices were inaccurate, that they were padded, and we’re gonna deal with that issue,” the prime minister said.
With that in mind, Browne has suggested to the health minister to change up the tasks carried out by the department and reduce the working days from six to three.
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Plain and simple,
A…INVESTIGATE
B…GATHER EVIDENCE
C…ARREST
D…BRING CHARGES
E…PROSECUTE
F…JAIL ALL FOUND GUILTY.
…for, these are the White Collar Criminals
…and, to this end, there should be no denials
…once, the evidence(s) produced at these trials
…prove, beyond the ‘shadow of a doubt!’
…call them out, run them out
…send them straight to jail,
…to empty, those shitty slop pails
…while sipping on, COCKtails!
Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock! “Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which victims are led to doubt the evidence of their senses and the soundness of their reason. The term was coined in the 1930s, deriving from the title of a British play, but the practice is as old as human history. Trump apparently fancies himself a master of it.” -Eugene Robinson WAPO!
Your Indulgence Mi Gud Fren! July 17, 2014 less than a month into the Gaston Browne Administration, in response to an article in the now dead “Caribtimes” entitled One thought on “Chairman Crump of NSWMA Invites Trouble” this mere voice in the wilderness wrote the following:
“Comrade Leader, this observer of the Political, Constitutional, Legal, Regulatory, Economic, Socio-Cultural, Ethics, Demographic, Ecological, and Educational & Technological Environment on The Rock wishes to suggest:
“That Management of all Statutory & Government Entities provide you within a month. the following: A zero based budget; a 5% reduced & 10% reduced budgets for a calendar year commencing June 13th 2014 to June 12th 2015 with two caveats that there be no reductions in Human Resources save for natural attrition, that there be no reductions in Services and that the preparation of these budgets involve all staff, stakeholders and other Publics;
“That you engage external Auditors to provide a full accounting of the Financial Well being of Statutory & Government Entities;
“That Any Entity that is not in a sound position should find itself being The Case Study of a Forensic Auditor; and,
“That as soon as the above reports are presented to GoAB, the Findings and Recommendations be shared with the Public;
“Many years ago, fisher folk would catch shrimp in Perry Bay, where the Bus Station/Terminal now sits on reclaimed land, using locally made wicker baskets in which they covered the bottom and sides with sea moss! The shrimp which were plentiful and could be scooped up by a good diver are no more likewise the practice of catching shrimp!
“The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is one entity that has been crying out for solid audits! By the way, one was carried out over a year ago in which the staff were not involved to ascertain how the money trail could end at Cooks Dump! Just as in the days of yore, you would certainly catch some huge jumbo shrimp and a most enterprising Gang of Four – Commissioner 81st Of Her Majesty’s Reconfigured Boundaries; Shaka, Servant Leader of the Gray & Green Clans; De Doo Rag Chair, Master of the Supremacy & Paramountcy of The Party and “Septuple dipper” & De Obeah Man and Gentlemen’s Club Impresario! These are some of the biggest Trucking Magnates on The Rock, who ensured that they got paid first while the poor and vulnerable contractors waited for sympathy payments!
“That the “Gang of Four” have not only being engaged at NSWMA in certain practices which may be described as “courting the corridors of unethical behavior” and “possible infelicities” but some have flirted with “abuse and inappropriate behaviours” to which the Most POWAful Grande Dame of the Westminster House, which De Arabas built with the complicity of African Partners, has all of the evidence and can attest to! But will she? Oh No! No! No! No! No! She only waltzes with the lads and la$$es who brought her to the dance!
“It would be most prudent to act with Urgency before Many “Under Water” Mortgages at their local bank founded and led by the Overseer of Scotshill and Woods plantations respectively are paid off in lieu of The Silence of the Lambs!” JFII 07172014!
“Afrocentricity cannot be reconciled to any hegemonic or idealistic philosophy. It is opposed to radical individualism as expressed in the postmodern school. But it is also opposed to spookism, confusion, and superstition. As example of the differences between the methods of Afrocentricity and postmodernism, consider the following question, “Why have (the People of African Descent resident on the Rock been shut out of National) development?” – Dr. Molefi Asante! Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change!
Who’s Zooming You! Go Well!
The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament is the head, of the Budget oversight committee(s), yet, from 2014, the year which you are referring to ,Baldwin Spencer was in charge and, he did absolutely nothing in terms of auditing, as you mentioned.
Why you ask, one may assume that, such would’ve have being done to him Balwin, as the present situation, with Jamal Pringle.
The “only” way, to get such strick and stringent oversight is to take, that responsibility from the Leader of the Opposition, in Parliament and give to an Independent firm.
I see, that the EU is providing funding, and technical support to begin a “process,” of some form of oversight and they’re including recommendation(s) for changes to the Laws, which is a decent start.
The problem with that is how strong, will these ammendment(s) be, which by the way show include taking away the leadership role in this department from the Leader of the Opposition!
Me dey Yah, fu now!
RASpect!
Alleged Theft @ Port, Alleged Theft @ Solid Waste, it doesnt matter where theres theft, nothing, absolute nothing a go happen once you have that link. Why dont we EVER investigate anything thoroughly ? Just now this story dead down and its another Alleged Theft. A best the PM
Amennnnnnnn eberyting you said ……
He as well has his well placed frens & family
We have this big excitement bout ALLEGEDLY but No proper thorough investigations bcos its will show up either a fren or family or fren of a family so he backs off eventually…HE LOVES GETTING THE PUBLIC EXCITED AND TALKING THEN BIG FLAP.
I agree with the Prime Minister about the idea of staff rotation. That is one of the very effective ways utilize by international banks and financial institutions to discourage employees from fraudulent activities.
Rotate employees’ duties amd require employees to take vacations. These measures deter employees from attempting thefts since they will not be able to permanently conceal their improper actions. In fact, many banks, for example have discovered employee thefts when the employee was was on vacation or assigned to a new position.
I love what Gaston Browne has been advocating for lately. He is demonstrating his responsibility to set the “tone at the top”, to make it clear that his government values integrity and that unethical behavior (whether from low or top level employees) will not be tolerated.
If he is serious about it, which I suspect he is, his government should contract independent Forensic Accountants and the likes to administer some effective internal control activities within entities like the NSWMA.
Bearing in mind that these Internal Control activities have their limitations like occasionally, two or more employees may work together to get around prescribed internal control activities. Such collusion can significantly reduce the effectiveness of a system. No system of internal control is perfect but we still need to find ways to deter theft in these entities like the NSWMA.
@ InTheDetails. Are you a comedian or living under a rock for the last decade. The PM has worked in banking all his life before politics and knows quite well these best practices for fraud prevention.
If you believe he is serious where is the money stolen from the port
He is serious when he declares that he doesn’t want the 3 million dollar broker prosecuted?
Just give me an aspirin.
The creative enrichment scheme is in full effect.
I am a professional accountant and I’ve been living on top of the rock for almost a decade and there I will stay. Occasionally, will visit under the rock to see what people like yourself are doing, might help y’all come on top of the rock.
I’m only trying to elaborate on your PM’s point about staff rotation. Elaborating on it so that others have the information. So when they have a discussion with their PM or MPs they can advocate for “staff rotation.” It is not a perfect internal control activity but it has it benefits.
The creative enrichment scheme has been in effect under blue and red. It is human nature. I am not trying to defend your PM or the likes including Harold, Baldwin, and the rest of them. Y’all never get me to pick sides although I like the color red more than blue lol
I will repeat myself, “I suspect” he is serious. You go figure what that means. I don’t believe he is serious or think he is serious. I suspect he is serious.
Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock! “The winners of tomorrow will deal proactively with chaos, will look at the chaos per se as the source of market advantage, not as a problem to be got around.” – Tom Peters: Thriving On Chaos! “There must be Proactive Human Resource Management! JFII 06272014! Two Weeks into De GB “Swear In” at Da ARG!
This was written August 4, 2014, a mere three days after celebrating Emancipation and 52 days into the newly minted GB Admin!
“When the head is big, it cannot avoid punches.” Zambian Proverb!
“There are those lovely buzz words again: “good governance”, “transparency” and “accountability”. The ones that politicians love to throw around in an effort to convince people that they are committed to those principles. … In the end, the lack of transparency leads to a lack of accountability and ultimately to a lack of good governance. Everyone suffers. The population is kept in the dark and the politicians eventually feel the resentment of the electorate at the next general election, if not before.” Observer Editorial July 31, 2014!
“The Vendor at Da Market Say: “Pay Attention!”
“On June 17, a mere three days after The PM was sworn in, this mere voice, recognizing the dissonance that was sure to come, wrote that GoAB should initiate Strategic Imperatives & Tactical Actions immediately and have:
“Management of all Statutory & Government Entities provide you within a month. the following: A zero based budget; a 5% reduced & 10% reduced budgets for a calendar year commencing June 13th 2014 to June 12th 2015 with two caveats that there be no reductions in Human Resources save for natural attrition, that there be no reductions in Services and that the preparation of these budgets involve all staff, stakeholders and other Publics; That you engage external Auditors to provide a full accounting of the Financial Well being of Statutory & Government Entities; That Any Entity that is not in a sound position should find itself being The Case Study of a Forensic Auditor; That as soon as the above reports are presented to GoAB, the Findings and Recommendations be shared with the Public!”
“In so doing they would have paved the way for other necessary investigations either by internal or external auditors, which … , would have caught the jesters, slackers and frauds, masquerading as Black Bureaucratic Elites! For Example, They would have quietly nullified the noises from the Most POWAFul Grande Dame! How Much was The Good Lady paying herself for Construction & Project Management of the Library Project of which she knew nothing, just as another Dame lacking in such capacity was being paid to Project Manage the Facility on St. Mary’s Street and Independence Avenue! // “Don’t Cry Now for Antigua & Barbuda given that the Former GoAB did not release the Lindquist Report!” JFII 08042014!
Two Administrations and Six Years Later! A Day Late and A Dollar Short!
Go Well!
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