MP for St. Joseph, Dale Marshall.
Candidate for Christ Church South, Ralph Thorne.
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is arguing that by law, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has the authority to call Ministers to bear witness to Government’s spending. This was communicated through candidate for Christ Church South, Ralph Thorne, during BLP’s recently held mass meeting.
“You would have heard over the past few days, this controversy that has now been created in which the government is seeking to question the power and authority of the PAC; simply because the Chairman of this committee is the esteemed leader of this party. They seek to call into question the authority of that body. It is a body set up by law, it is not Mia Mottley’s body.”
Explaining what the PAC is, Thorne noted that it oversees the public accounts; government’s money and spending must be subject to the scrutiny of the people of Barbados. Going further, he stated that the committee is one that ought to be respected and the response of the government is “nonsense!”
“You would have seen a public statement issued on the behalf of these persons who claim that they do not want to appear before that committee. Well, I say to you in Christ Church South – you have seen the sewage in your area... I say to you in Barbados that the statement issued on the behalf of those Ministers is legal sewage!”
Concurring with his comrade was MP for St. Joseph, Dale Marshall. “It is said that it is a witch-hunt by Mottley, but this is not about a witch-hunt – this is about accountability. They promised that there would be new accountability and every time they are called to manifest the words of their manifesto – they run and hide!”
Indicating that he is bound by confidentiality on disclosing what was seen in the Public Accounts, Marshall stated that some of it brought them to tears. Given this, he stated, “We decided that the time had come when the three Ministers responsible for discharging those two housing projects should come to the PAC and say this was the justification I had for making this decision.” (PRF)
Section: