Camille McEachnie
Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Ancil Dennis has said he saw no illegal activity outlined in an Auditor General’s report on the THA’s distribution of COVID-19 relief grants.
The report, examining the period October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020, said the THA spent $2.5 million more than the $8.5 million allocated by the Government for that purpose.
Responding to the findings in a 2,300 worded written statement, Dennis first slammed critics for suggesting the distribution involved corruption.
He said they were “bent on accusing this administration of malfeasance in public office without even taking the time to ascertain the facts.”
“While there are areas for improvement, I saw nothing in this report which suggests illegal or corrupt activity,” he added.
On the Auditor General’s statement that people who received food vouchers did not complete the forms, Dennis said it was impossible as some were in-home quarantine.
He did not say if the forms were to be filled out in-person or online.
He said the distribution was “not the time to frustrate our people with unnecessary bureaucracy.”
“I am not in agreement with subjecting persons to any interview process to obtain a five-hundred-dollar hamper or voucher,” he said.
He said 1,197 individuals were assisted at a value of $658,410. A total of 797 food vouchers and 400 hampers were given out.
On the issue of the cards’ administration, the report pointed out that the same staff who gave out the cards also did the site visits as well as evaluated and recommended the recipients.
Dennis said the situation occurred because the unit was short-staffed.
He said the manager had died and only two other employees were operating the unit.
He said the applications could not follow the specific format as the sample sent to the unit because it meant duplication of the existing system.
With regard to the THA’s proposed increase in agricultural production to address the pandemic, the report said “over ten months after the onset of the pandemic...the THA did not fully start its Response Plan.”
The auditor general pointed out that although the THA paid $967,000 for one tractor and two ploughs on September 30, 2020, they are yet to be delivered.
The Chief Secretary said the machinery which was bought in Brazil, was delayed because of the COVID situation there and would be delivered once the situation changes.
On remedial measures to address the report’s findings, Dennis gave an undertaking.
“The OCS (Office of the Chief Secretary) gives Tobagonians and by extension the nation the assurance that plans are in train to commence a rigorous training program for the staff of the THA and implementation of suitable structures so as to enable access to these training sessions by the relevant staff.”
PDP: Dennis giving ‘foolish excuses’
The Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) says Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis’ responses to the Auditor General’s 2020 report on Tobago’s state-sponsored pandemic relief are “foolish excuses”.
One of the PDP’s deputy leaders, Farley Augustine, said he too disagrees with people being interviewed for the $500 or $800 cards. However, Dennis should not have disobeyed the policy because he did not like it.
He said Dennis should have changed it at the Executive Council’s level before its implementation.
“It is not the job of a Chief Secretary to decide when to agree or disagree with financial rules and regulations. That is a dangerous precedent and one that will lead down the road of anarchy,” Augustine said.
Addressing Dennis’s statement that the card distribution services were decentralized, and “cards distributed to the various Assemblymen,” Augustine said that was not the case.
“While we assisted our constituents in filling out forms, no PDP Assemblymen got cards for distribution,” the PDP deputy leader said.
He accused the PNM of using the cards as an election ploy. The General Elections were held in August 2020 and THA elections in January 2021.
“The truth is a few Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries took food cards and food vouchers and gave them out willy nilly as an election ploy,” Augustine claimed.