Ministry overwhelmed by paperwork
Bodden Town Primary School, Grand Cayman
(CNS): The education ministry has admitted that it struggled to manage the volume of documents relating to the schools projects, which was why there were delays in the flow of information to the Office of the Auditor General when it was conducting its review of those publicly financed projects. But the deputy governor has said he accepts the ministry’s position that it didn’t intentionally withhold records and the auditors were given sufficient information to complete their work.
“The acting chief officer has conceded that the ministry struggled to manage the volume of records in question,” Deputy Governor Franz Manderson told CNS following the publication of the most recent damning audit reports regarding the management of taxpayers’ money. “However, the ministry has maintained, and I accept, that the delay was not intentional.”
Given the catalogue of problems surrounding the controversial and costly high school projects as well as the primary school expansions, Manderson said that since the auditors began their review, government had completely overhauled the way it manages capital projects and that he would ensure civil service heads improved the record keeping on major projects.
“I believe that the Cayman Islands Government has already instituted significant system reforms, which include legislative changes, establishing a Major Projects Office staffed with experts in managing capital projects, providing project management training for scores of staff, recruiting a director of procurement and the adoption and adherence to strict procedures for undertaking and delivering major projects,” Manderson said
Clifton Hunter High School, Grand Cayman
The deputy governor admitted the shortcomings highlighted in the latest report from Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick. However, he noted that the necessary framework did not exist during the timeframe covered by the audit and things have since improved. He promised that, going forward, all capital projects would be managed by experienced project managers.
The education ministry had faced many challenges regarding the school projects but it has acknowledged the shortcomings and admitted that record keeping was an area of weakness during the projects as a result of the high volume of paperwork generated and the limited resources at the time to administer the project.
“The ministry’s project office contains several hundred project files that were made available to the auditors, including cabinet papers, contracts, payment files, cost data, meeting minutes, and project reports,” the deputy governor confirmed. He said that ministry officials were screening files at the beginning of the audit process so that it could keep a record of the documents it had provided.
According to the audit report published by Swarbrick last week, his office had faced considerable difficulties sourcing the information it needed to complete its audit properly as many related documents were not properly recorded and often filed on the individual computers of civil servants in personal folders. Swarbrick raised concerns that staff were screening documents to decide whether they should be handed over or not, when it was not their decision to make as auditors are the ones who decide the relevance of documents once a request for all records relating to a subject under audit has been submitted.
McKeeva Bush at opening of the West Bay Primary School extension
“We believe that the actions of the ministry demonstrate at best an inability to manage the information for which it is responsible. At worst the ministry’s actions were designed to limit our ability to conclude clearly on the selected audit objective and criteria,” Swarbrick wrote in the report, as he pointed to the stonewalling the office encountered right up until the end of the audit.
Swarbrick said that not only had the battle to get the necessary documentation delay the audit and made it more costly, but it had also limited his office’s ability to report fully on the nature and extent of the ministry’s poor management of the school projects.
The secondary school projects had at the end of the 2013/14 financial year cost the government over $172 million and only one of what was originally planned to be three high schools has been completed. The original goal had been to deliver all three for less than $170 million by 2009. Then, in 2010 the ministry started on work that was meant to be a $10 million project to upgrade five primary schools by the start of the 2011 school year. But in the end, the government spent over $13.4 million on just four of the five school upgrades, which were not opened to students until 2012.
Category: Education, Government Finance, Government oversight, Politics
Once again Franz comes to the rescue of Mary Rodriguez, the Chief Officer who ordered a consultant’s report to be doctored so her ministry didnt look so bad. After that scandal broke, she was promoted and moved to chair some super committee under Franz’s office. Now, here he goes again defending her actions and lack of leadership.
Stop making excuses and get rid of the people who are not pulling their weight at work or are unable to enbrace changes. I am so sick and tired of reading daily some BS why gov can’t do things. What is it they actually can do besides blowing money and worrying about stepping on voters toes? Come on man! Just donthe right thing and stop running a country wide social service called “civil service”
If they were smart they would hire competent people to do the job right……But they are not. So this is what the people who live here have to endure.
Problem is the incompetent people are the ones doing the hiring or are just busy finding their family and friends a higher paid then need be job that they are not trained or qualified for. Then they just have to do the basics to keep their job while running side jobs using CIG resources. Now they are spending more money to manage capital projects when there aren’t as many.
I tend to agree with you with the exception that not all are criminals but many are incompetent.
Didn’t expect anything different with the incompetence in the Ministry.
Can’t cope with the paperwork???? You can’t seem to cope with anything. You have been in office for how many years now? I wish elections were here again, but yet,does it really matter? All of them and I mean all of them tell us what we want to hear, then when elected different song, the ministry of education is one of them. I still can’t believe she ran independent then joined a party. That speaks for itself!!!
Is the inability to cope with the paperwork a reflection on the incompetence of the staff in the Ministry. How many are educated beyond High School level, and at what academical level ?
Start firing some of these deadbeats! Who was/is in charge of these school projects? Hold them accountable… then the auditors, accountants and chief officers who were involved in these projects and changing reports all need to be fired for misuse of OUR funds, incompetence and infringing on the rights of our children to obtain their education.
Then you will be the first one out there about PPM fired Caymanians. I wonder if you could do any better. Some of you just like to complain all the time. This island is running over with whiners. If some of had spent half as much time on contributing positively as you do on complaining we would be far better off. You are infringing on your children’s rights when you spout out so much rubbish.
Thank you Mr Manderson was all the great progress being made in the civil service. Recommendations of the auditor general being implemented in a timely manner is most welcomed. I just read of another ministry achieving clean account. Very impressive.
God help us if you call this progress.
Just a couple of thoughts: my daughter goes to St. Ignatius, I pay 1100 per month to send her there. I am not wealthy. It is a huge burden for me. She could go to Govt., school, but I scrimp and save and send her to private school. St. Ignatius has one of the worst buildings on the Island for a private school. No gym, no atrium, no fancy anything…there physical plant is sad at best. But, it is a good school, with rules, no gangs, and an atmosphere that fosters learning. Why, oh why, do we think throwing money at a building will help our kids learn? I am so sad every month that I have to cough up that money, which I could have saved for college, that our govt. did not invest in actual education, qualified teachers and tutors, but rather squandered it on fancy trappings for our ill educated future.
And even when they get reports on teachers who should be fired, the leaders simply get promoted, so problems will never be resolved.