Headline News
OFAC says no order issued
(CNS): Update 4pm -Following further investigations today, the Cayman Islands government has said that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued no orders telling brokers not to do business with Cayman as was suggested by a US based firm. Government said that the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, which represents the CIG in the US has confirmed with the Director’s office at OFAC that there are no orders, directives or other regulations that restrict US financial institutions or US citizens from doing business with the Cayman Islands, its financial institutions or residents. "It is now clear that any action TD Ameritrade may have taken was made without the knowledge or approval of OFAC," government said in a statement.
"The Cayman Islands Government is continuing to work with our wide network of financial and legal partners to ascertain the origins of this erroneous information, at which time a comprehensive statement will be issued to both local and international media,” officials told CNS.
Cayman Finance also said on Wednesday afternoon that OFAC Deputy Director Barbara Hammerle had revealed that she is ‘mystified’ by the report from TDAmeritrade and the OFAC does not block transactions with jurisdictions, but targets specific parties. The industry body also revealed that the General Counsel of TDAmeritrade has confirmed that the order did not come from OFAC, but the exact reasons for certain account closures by the brokers has still not yet been explained.
Cayman Finance understands that TD Ameritrade is accepting alternate US addresses for existing clients. TD Waterhouse in Toronto is accepting Cayman clients, as is Charles Schwab.
Concerns were raised on Tuesday afternoon by Cayman Finance following the revelation from one of its members that its US broker TD Ameritrade would no longer do business with the Cayman firm at the behest of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the US Treasury.
Cayman Finance circulated an email to members with a copy of a letter from the brokers (see attachment below), saying that they would no longer be working with certain international jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands.
Following receipt of the letter it is understood that the Cayman Finance member spoke with TDAmeritrade and was told the direction had come from the OFAC. This has now been revealed to be incorrect.
Both Cayman Finance and government say they are continuing to ascertain why the broker is informing clients it will no longer do business with those based in Cayman and why it is being suggested, incorrectly, that OFAC is behind the decision.
According to the letter sent 8 December to the locally based firm, the US brokers were placing restrictions on the account because of international requirements.“After assessing global requirements for doing international business, TDAmeritrade has decided that we will no longer open or maintain accounts in certain international jurisdictions,” the letter stated.
On Tuesday evening the chair of Cayman Finance, Anthony Travers was the first to reveal that he did not believe the order was from the OFAC, a part of the US Treasury that enforces America’s economic sanctions.
Anyone experiencing similar difficulties with their US brokers should contact Denise Gower denise.gower@caymanfinance.ky The Miami customer service number for Charles Swab is (602) 355-7300).
DER boss gets CINICO job
(CNS): After being placed on enforced leave from the Department of Employment Relations for ten months Lonny Tibbetts has taken the top job at CINICO government officials have said. Tibbetts was temporarily suspended from his post as director at the DER back in February of this year as a result of an internal staff dispute. However, the education ministry said that matter had been finalized recently and Tibbetts was about to be put back in post before he accepted his new job as Chief Executive Officer with the government’s health insurance company. The post had been vacant for two years before Tibbetts started work on Monday.
The appointment was made by CINICO’s board after an extensive recruitment process. “It was important to find a candidate with the right professional background, academic credentials and management experience. It also had to be someone who has demonstrated commitment to the Cayman Islands and its people. Mr. Tibbetts met all of these important criteria,” said the board chair Scott Cummings. “Of course, we are particularly pleased that we were able to fill the position with a Caymanian candidate.”
Before Tibbetts appointment the Ministry of Education, Training and Employment had confirmed that the matter involving him and that ministry had been finalised with an agreed way forward, government officials said in the statement.
It is understood that Tibbetts was about to be given his job back after the internal investigation which is believed to have revolved around internal staff problems that have plagued the department long before Tibbetts took up the top job. However, the officials from that ministry have not revealed the details of the investigation but said a plan had been worked out for Tibbetts to return.
“Now that Mr. Tibbetts has chosen to move on, I would wish to thank Mr. Tibbetts for his contributions to the challenging and important work of the Department of Employment Relations and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours," said the Chief Officer Mary Rodrigues who had placed Tibbetts on gardening leave.
Tibbetts who holds a master’s degree in business administration from the International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI) and is about to complete a MSc in human resource management, is also a designated Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).
Before taking up the post of DER and the ensuing controversy Tibbetts gained first-hand knowledge of the insurance industry through managing a portfolio of captive insurance companies for Marsh Management Cayman Ltd. He later transferred to the public sector where he worked as a senior insurance analyst for the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority in the Insurance Division regulating both Class A and Class B insurance companies.
“These two posts furnished me with a unique perspective of both sides of the table – that of the insurance manager as well as the insurance regulator,” Tibbetts said, making no comment about the issues relating to his former role.
While at the DER however Tibbetts mandated the use of a case management database for the Labour Inspectorate Unit, linked the Immigration Department with the unemployed persons’ database and implemented a number of internal policies and procedures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the department, officials said.
Health minister Mark Scotland endorsed Tibbetts’ appointment when he said it will be of great benefit to CINICO. “Mr Tibbetts brings a wealth of experience and knowledge,” Scotland added.
Cops arrest suspect gunman
(CNS): Police have arrested a 31-year-old man after he threatened a number of people with a gun in Bodden Town last night. Police said that the man brandished his weapon during a dispute, which occurred around 9.30pm outside Water Boyz Liquor Store in the Odessa Plaza. The dispute between the man and woman escalated when he suddenly brandished the firearm, threatening the woman and anumber of people who were standing nearby. No shots were fired and no-one was injured before the couple left the scene. The suspected gunman was arrested a short time later after a search was launched by police and he was located in Shamrock Road.
The man who is believed to be Andy Barnes the father of the five year old boy Jeremiah Barnes shot and killed in a West Bay gas station in February, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an unlicensed firearm and threatening behaviour. He remains in police custody while enquiries are ongoing.
Detective Constable Elizabeth Berns of Bodden Town CID has appealed for any witnesses to the incident to come forward.
“There were a number of people outside the store at the time of the incident in fact some of them had just come from a nearby church. I would ask any of those people who have not yet spoken to the police to come forward,” she said.
Anyone with information should contact Bodden Town police station on 947-2220 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477(TIPS).
Top cop points finger at US
(CNS): The Cayman Islands police commissioner has blamed the United States firearms policy for the deaths of young Caribbean men. In a presentation regarding crime in the region David Baines said that the right to bear arms there was directly contributing to the denial of the right to life for young men in the Caribbean. He also said America and western European nations were criticising the Caribbean when they themselves had failed to address the demand for drugs in their countries. Speaking at the Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Co-operation last week Baines pointed to drugs and guns as the region’s most pressing crime problems.
The RCIP’s most senior officer told conference delegates gathered at the Ritz Carlton about the worrying proliferation of firearms in the region, which included military grade weaponry, assault rifles and heavy caliber machine guns.
“I have no interest in seeking to comment upon national politics and the laws and governance of US citizens and their constitution. However, at an international level, and specifically here in the Caribbean, the constitutional right to bear arms in the United States is directly contributing to the denial of the right to life for young men across the Caribbean,” he said.
Baines said that while every murder was a tragedy for the family, it was also a tragedy for the region, with tourism taking a bashing every time a serious crime was committed and reported in the press. He criticised an article in The Economist earlier this year which stated that Caribbean police forces were looking overseas to recruit officers. The article said: “There is good reason to import foreign managers. Caribbean police forces were set up in colonial times to catch mango thieves and quell native unrest. They are being overwhelmed bywell armed gangs, international drug traffickers and systemic corruption.”
Such commentary rankled the community, the commissioner said, adding that it failed to recognise the realities faced by the local and regional police services in small countries with limited funding and infrequent public support.
Turning the tables, he said that those countries receiving illicit drugs had not done enough to quell demand. He said the article overlooked the point that the violence in the Caribbean was down to its geography as a convenient hub for drugs originating from the South and Central Americas transiting to the main demand centres of the United States and Western Europe. Yet, those same developed countries had failed to counter their own drug problems "with a myriad of law enforcement agencies and unparalleled funding”, he noted.
The commissioner spoke about the region’s common criminal issues, which, he said, differed only in scale but pointed to the organised drugs trade as the most serious. The squeeze on organised criminals based in Jamaica meant they would "migrate to safer locales to continue their criminality", and, as a result, the importance of acting regionally to meet local threats could not be overstated.
Baines said organised crime usurped legitimate government and its criminal activity clogged up the courts. “The criminal justice system is then pressured with delays,” he said, which in turn were exploited by the criminals to intimidate or even murder witnesseses, so trials collapsed and the dangerous go free. In Jamaica, he noted, trials were still not concluded in some cases after ten years.
The situation in Tivoli Garden, Kingston, he said, showed how this organised crime undermined democracy. “The arrest and extradition of Christopher Dudas Coke to America required an operation equivalent to a military campaign to enter the area controlled by Dudas. Some 80 persons plus died during the operation to secure Dudas’ arrest and retake the area controlled by him for many years,” Baines said.
To understand the impact of how organised crime groups replaced legitimate government and law enforcements in this environment, the commissioner said that within Tivoli Gardens, 4000 homes existed, though only one percent paid utilities because the companies feared retaliation if they disconnected the supply.
Baines said crime fighting required a common approach at the regional level, including joint training initiatives and the sharing of information, assets and resources. He said that having Jamaica and FBI resources on standby, ready to deploy within an hour of request to somewhere like Cayman, when faced with a criminal threat outside of the norm was a real blessing as it was no longer sufficient to rely on a single department or unit, police or military.
“The threat is such that alignment of endeavour by government, judiciary, police, military and civil society are essential in order to exploit any opportunity to prevent organised crime gangs from establishing a base in our community,” the commissioner said.
PPM: Stimulus disappointing
(CNS): The government has offered nothing new, the opposition has said in response to the premier’s stimulus plan. With the exception of the announcement that government is talking to the banks about a possible loan moratorium, the PPM’s Alden McLaughlin said the plan was essentially a rehash of the various announcements and ideas government has made over the last year. What the country needed to stimulate the economy, the opposition MLA said, was a roll back of the massive fee increases imposed at the beginning of the year. McLaughlin also noted that in his plan the premier had again failed to appreciate the impact crime was having, especially as recent comments suggested he believed crimewas going down.
McLaughlin said that, with the exception of the issue over the East End Seaport, there was nothing bad in the plan but he suggested it was not really a stimulus package.
“It was not what it was hyped up to be,” the opposition member said. “It remains to be seen if it will have any real impact. What we have seen again is the stubborn refusal to accept that it was the hike in fees which have had the most damaging effect on the economy. If the government really wants to give investors help then it must roll back the increase in fees that took effect in January.”
McLaughlin said he was delighted that the school projects were being restarted but he noted that the year or more during which work had stopped had also had a detrimental impact on the local economy. He said that while the previous administration was condemned over the public sector projects it was clear that they had played a very important part in keeping people in work.
“When it was clear we were in for a recession it was our belief that government was obliged to keep the projects going to protect jobs,” he said. “Government has an obligation to its people, and if that means you can’t balance the budget that year well, that’s just what government has to do as we need to look out for the people.”
Although the premier has criticised Keynesian economic policy, McLaughlin said he was glad to see that the premier was still putting the principles into practice where the schools were concerned. He questioned why government had allowed the work to stop for so long and added that a lost year was lost potential trickle down and economic stimulation. As the man behind the projects, he noted that the two high schools would have been finished by now if the current government had fought as hard as the previous administration to keep the work going.
The opposition member also pointed to the continuing failure of the current government to face the crime problem, which was having a direct and negative impact on the economy. McLaughlin said that, despite the comment by the premier last week that statistics revealed a decline in crime, it was nothing short of insensitive not to recognise that the community was exceptionally concerned and fearful which it came to the day to day realities of crime in Cayman.
“These are desperate times and those who don’t appreciate that are insensitive at best,” he said. “Unless we can get some kind of check on what is perceived as the realities of crime in the community, we cannot hope to have any significant economic recovery.”
The independent member for North Side was also less than enthusiastic about the premier’s stimulus package suggesting there was “nothing in it” and wondering where the specifics were. Ezzard Miller told CNS that he was disappointed.
“I really was hoping to see more specifics and something to get the economy going over Christmas,” he said, adding that the premier could have actually made things worse. “I am concerned that the hint of duty reduction could even have a negative impact on the Christmas sales period. People who were going to buy may hold on now and wait to see if there is a significant duty reduction in the New Year instead,” he added.
Crime is down reveals Mac
(CNS): The country’s crime statistics have fallen over the course of 2010, the country’s premier has said. In the wake of criticism from the public, as well as from the opposition in the country’s parliament, that the premier is not focusing on the perceived increase in crime in the community, McKeeva Bush said serious crime over the first 9 months of the year has dropped by 3.38 percent. Speaking at the Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Cooperation on Friday, he said it was still “a major point of concern for my government” and that any opportunity to improve national security through sharing of information or the pooling of regional resources was welcomed.
Bush pointed out that for decades the Cayman Islands had taken pride in its safety and tranquillity and low crime levels but things had changed.
“We’ve had to strengthen our border policing to stem the smuggling of firearms, drugs and people,” he pointed out. “Our marine and air operations unit are equipped and performing well, and thanks to proper equipment, the ASU and Marine Unit can work together to quickly search air, land and sea for fugitives.”
Explaining Cayman’s crime fighting strategies to the more than 150 delegates gathered at the conference, he said both the police service and the legal department were working with his government ministers to amend legislation “to keep ahead of criminal threats” and witness anonymity and protection.
He said the use of the new legislation was already bearing fruit as he said it was instrumental in securing a conviction in a murder case within a few weeks of implementation. Bush said he was interested in hearing about the possibility of building closer alliances within the Northern Caribbean for witness protection.
Turning to the local fight against crime, he said work was also underway to advance the national Closed Circuit TV project. “This will allow us to monitor our hotspot areas and will be extremely beneficial in the disruption, prevention and detection of crime,” he said.
He also added there was a need for additional training to enhance skill levels for all echelons of crime prevention staff and prison wardens and added that there were issues with law enforcement that were common to all the countries in the region.
“I’m willing to bet that we need improved file and evidence preparation in all of our countries. Criminals have become a transient commodity and they have mastered the art of disguise. However, there are certain identification features that are unchangeable and as a region we should be utilizing technology to be able to share this information,” he added.
Let’s learn from each other
(CNS): Premier McKeeva Bush is looking forward to learning from a collective pooling of ideas, he said at last week’s first ever Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Cooperation, and maintained that countries such as the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Bahamas all had a variety of common issues that might be solved from improved relations and co-operation. The premier said that immigration and labour, trade, education, national security and tourism had been identified as the core areas for discussion at the conference. He confirmed that Cayman would particularly benefit from learning how neighbouring countries approached such issues, in light of the current downturn in the economy.
“The picture is not quite as rosy as it used to be. Fallout from the 2008 global recession continues to have a wide-spread effect on the Cayman Island’s economy, so whereas traditionally the pace of our growth was steady and positive, within the last two years the country has undergone a sharpreversal in this growth trajectory,” he told the audience gathered at the Ritz-Carlton.
Bush spoke about how links with Northern Caribbean countries could foster better relations when it came to the training of their people within the tourism industry. While acknowledging the fact that the University of the West Indies had Bachelors and Masters Programme in both tourism and hospitality management available in both the Bahamas and Jamaica, he commented: “Tourism is a strong sector in Cayman, in the Dominican Republic, and in Puerto Rico as well, but how many College of Hotel Management can say they have interned in one of the myriad of hotels in any of our destinations? If a central placement committee was set up to cohesively look into this, I am sure something could be worked out for these students.”
He also called for research assistance for graduate students, as well as the establishment of education exchange programmes in general. In particular Bush highlighted Cuba’s success with the training of their doctors. "Why can’t we learn from them and apply it to other disciplines?” he questioned.
Bush called for Northern Caribbean countries to join forces and to present a united front when it came to external influences, which, he perceived, “threaten the viability and sustainability of our tourism industries.”
Bush was referring to the UK’s recently introduced Air Passenger Duty which places the Caribbean in one of the highest bands, where the duty payable has recently risen from £50 to £75 per person.
“In these difficult economic times, requiring a family of four to pay £300 in taxes just for the privilege of flying to the Caribbean will make the annual family holiday unaffordable for many. It will take great cooperation and a strong regional voice to make our position clear in order to fight such unfair initiatives now and in the future,” he confirmed.
Turning to immigration, Bush said that his newly launched Economic Plan addressed aspects of immigration reform, including enhancements for options to residency. It also incorporated visa requirements designed to create a better business climate for international and regional travellers. Further to this, Bush said he had announced that visa exemptions would be put in place for Jamaican Nationals who hold validated US, UK or Canadian visas, to which he received a round of applause from the audience. The news that he was also introducing a new 1-5 day business visa for business travelers was also well received.
Man killed by suspect DUI
(CNS): Updated – Police have confirmed that the 26-year-old man killed in the Seven Mile Beach area on Saturday was Michael Edgington. He was hit by a driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol in the early hours of the morning as he tried to cross West Bay Road. The 39-year-old male driver, who did not flee, was detained by police following the fatal road collision but has now been released on police bail, the RCIPS said Monday. Shortly after 1.00am 18 December Edington who was from the UK and had recently come to work in Cayman with an accounting firm was crossing the road, close to the Triple Crown, when he was struck by the van. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
Edgington sustained serious injuries and was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.The 39-year-old driver of the vehicle involved, a white Toyota Town Ace, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving under the influence.
West Bay Road was closed for several hours to allow accident investigations to take place. Traffic officers are now appealing for any witnesses to the incident to come forward. Information can be passed to the Traffic Department on 946-6254, George Town police station 949-4222, or via the Crime Stoppers tip-line 800-8477(TIPS).
Country music comes to 7MB
(CNS): A local lawyer will be bringing country music to the heart of Grand Cayman’s tourist district after being granted a liquor licence by the board. Following an extraordinary meeting of the Liquor Licensing Board to hear applications as a result of the temporary suspension of the moratorium, Buck Grizzel was given the go ahead for a bar and restaurant with a country music theme in Seven Mile Shops. Grizzel was one of a number of people applying for new licenses during the brief window of opportunity. President of Cayman’s Culinary Society Chef Vidyadhara Shetty was also granted a license for a new fusion restaurant in the new Fidelity Centre on West Bay Road.
William Baldwin was the first applicant to be granted a new license during the lifting of the ban on new liquor licenses, following the board’s regular quarterly meeting on the 9 December, for two tour boats. The other new applications were, however, deferred to a special meeting, which took place on Wednesday afternoon when the board heard four different applications.
Grizzel told the board that he planned to bring the country music theme into the heart of the tourist district, and although there were no plans for bucking bulls, he said there were plans to feature live Caymanian acts as well country DJs and Karaoke against the backdrop of a country music themed bar and restaurant that, he said, would become the place for country music fans on island.
Chef Shetty, who has been in Cayman for more than 17 years, where for the most part he has been the head chef at the Hyatt, revealed his plans for a new Indian-Euro fusion restaurant using fresh local foods. He said that for years people have been asking him to open his open restaurant and the opportunity had now arisen, so he was ready to do it. Promising to train more young Caymanian chefs in his kitchen, Shetty said the restaurant, which would be in the unit at the Fidelity Centre, needed a liquor license.
While Grizzel and Shetty were both given the green light, two other applications for package license were deferred until the New Year.
Eric Vagniez, the proprietor of Cayman’s Finest, which is a wholesale importer of gourmet and speciality foods, mostly from France, applied for a package license so he can add speciality wines to his list of products.
Meanwhile, Duane Ebanks, the owner of ‘Memory Lane, formerly the Inferno Club in West Bay, requested a package license in order to sell some speciality souvenir Cayman liquors in one of his shops at the location. Aiming to create a number of localised spirits for the tourist market, Ebanks says he has come up with some unique ideas and does not intend to sell a full range of liquor but just his own products.
The board also lifted the abeyance of the license at Archie’s Place on Sheddon Road, and Neil Bryington was granted a variation to his liquor licence in Caymana Bay to allow him to cater for functions off the premises of his Abacus restaurant in and around the new town centre.
AG calls for finance boss
(CNS): The failure of government entities to complete their accounts in accordance with the law is down to a lack of leadership the Auditor General has said. Unveiling the report based on the audit work his office has done on government accounts up to the year 09/10, Alistair Swarbrick said the Ministry of Finance needs to appoint a director of finance or someone to take overall responsibility for government’s accounts. The continued lack of leadership, he said, means no one is accepting responsibility for directing or orchestrating how the various government ministries and public authorities are ever going to address the myriad problems related to the state of public accounting.
Although Swarbrick said some statutory authorities and government companies (SAGCs) had made progress on addressing the backlog and, more importantly, improving the quality of the accounts, there were still ongoing problems with many of the 25 SAGCs. When it came to the ministries and portfolios, he said they were facing serious problems and the report gave a poor assessment of their efforts to restore financial accountability.
Some $2million of public money was spent on an accounting task force to address the problem but, Swarbrick pointed out to the media, the people of the Cayman Islands still had no idea how government money was being spent. In his first report the new auditor general said the money should have been used to focus on the more recent accounts, which would have relevance and meaning to the people.
He also said there was still a significant number of missing SAGCs reports which have been finished but were sitting in ministries. In its last report on the state of the accounts in April of this year the audit office had revealed that 73 reports had not been tabled in the Legislative Assembly (making them public documents) and that figure has now increased to 94.
“By not tabling the reports in the Legislative Assembly, the information about the financial performance of these organizations remains unavailable for public scrutiny,” the AG stated, adding that it essentially undermines the goal of accountability and the whole point of doing the accounts.
Given the amount of disclaimers, qualified and adverse opinions the office had to give to government accounts, he said it was very difficult for the man in the street to differentiate what was an inability to present financial statements and what was either poor spending decisions by government or even dishonesty.
Without supporting information and documentation there was no way to verify why, or even if, public money had been spent as claimed by the public sector entities, the AG added.
Swarbrick questioned the value of his office spending time and money auditing the entire public sector’s financial statements for past years as these were of such little value given how late and how many disclaimers there were. Government has only got as far as the financial year 04/05 in compiling its overall statements. The entire financial statements for that year were delivered to the audit office in October but were of little if any use to “man nor beast”, the AG said.
Criticising the government’s output statements, which he said were essentially meaningless, Swarbrick said the man in the street does not need to know how many briefing papers were presented to Cabinet in the Education Ministry; they want to know how the students did in school.
The continuing failure, not just in terms of the time line by government entities but the poor quality of information and presentation of their financial statements, is down to problems with skill levels, the government auditor believes. He pointed out that where people with the correct skill sets had now been put in place, they still faced serious challenges because of the legacy left to them.
Although he acknowledged some improvement with SAGCs on the quality of their accounts in general, the accounts coming from ministries and portfolios were still of poor quality with chunks of information and in some cases figures missing from the statements.
“The government needs to develop a plan for how they will bring financial accountability reports up to date and improve their quality,” Swarbrick said, adding that he was very concerned that government was well aware of the problem but has simply not done what it needs to do to tackle the issue.
“The government has been informed about the seriousness of this issue since 2008; yet has chosen not to put in place the kind of leadership necessary to address the underlying problems contributing to the lack of financial accountability,” Swarbrick observed. “I was also surprised to find that the government has not developed a plan for how it will catch up with its consolidated accounts, even though there is a critical need for this information to effectively manage the government finances.”
In short, Swarbrick recommended that government stop trying to find the information on past years and focus on the most recent year, which could still have some value for public accountability. “The simple solution to this is to concentrate on the current accounts and move forward,” he said.
Confirming that many government entities had contravened the Public Management and Finance Law, he said his office was not able to take any legal action against the people concerned. He said that the failure on the part of those obligated to meet the requirements under the law had to be dealt with under the Public Management and Service Law. He believed, however, that there had to be some consequences for the continued contravention of the law.
In its response to the AG’s report, the Ministry of Finance denied responsibility and said that chief officers do not report to the ministry but to the deputy governor.
“Despite the numerous leadership initiatives that the Ministry of Finance has taken over the years, chief officers have remained largely unresponsive, resulting in a general non-compliance with their statutory financial reporting responsibilities,” the ministrysaid.
Spending the $2million on creating statements for the outstanding years was part of a desire to comply with the law, the ministry claimed, rejecting Swarbrick’s comments that it was a waste of time as the statements had some public value. The ministry said the task force was worthwhile as it had identified system deficiencies and hindrances as it worked through the backlog, giving government the opportunity to reassess those systems and move towards restructuring the entire government wide accounting function.