PAC strikes record of Pierson’s claims
(CNS) UPDATED WITH VIDEO: The Public Accounts Committee has struck from its records allegations made by the chairperson of the OfReg board about the auditor general’s report on the regulator, which were made during the hearings last week. Claims made by Linford Pierson that the audit was inaccurate in several areas were refuted on Thursday by Auditor General Sue Winspear, who outlined with supporting documentation the misleading evidence given to the committee.
During his appearance before PAC, Pierson, the chairman of the board of directors of the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), had made numerous unsubstantiated claims that contradicted the audit team’s findings.
He had stated that staff from the Office of the Auditor General who undertook the audit did not meet or consult with him. But Winspear revealed the date and details of when the full audit team had met with the entire OfReg management team, as well as 15 individual meetings, including with Pierson himself.
The auditor general further noted that Pierson had claimed to have had a succession plan for the CEO post but did not provide it because he was not consulted.
“This is incorrect,” Winspear said, as she detailed the meetings when the CEO’s position was discussed with Pierson. She said that no plan was ever mentioned. She also noted that there was no documented evidence of any succession plan for the job ever existing or ever being placed before the rest of the board, contrary to Pierson’s claims.
Plans for filling that post were particularly controversial after Pierson had tried to take the job for himself, despite being chairperson. The effort was thwarted by other board members, but not before Pierson had threatened to punch the deputy chair.
Winspear said there was no paper trail for a succession plan, which appeared not to have gone beyond a discussion between Pierson and J.P. Morgan, the CEO at the time who left the post at the end of his contract in 2018 but has since died.
The auditor general explained that her office goes to significant lengths to ensure factual accuracy in the reports it produces. But she pointed out that the conclusions she draws from that factual information is often not what people want to hear.
In this case, Pierson had been extremely confrontational and had made allegations about the auditor that appear to be completely unfounded. As a result, PAC Chair Ezzard Miller invited a motion, which was moved by Chris Saunders and supported by all members of the committee, to remove elements of Pierson’s inaccurate evidence from the minutes.
See PAC meeting on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Government oversight, Politics
he is akmost 80 yrs old? power of lodge😕😂
This $hit right here, IS why we are on Blacklists every year.
How can a corrupt government ever be trusted?
I mean no one got fired from the Jef Web fiasco, and you need friends in government places to pull half of this mess off.
It surely takes a special type of person to abandon everyone and then blame them.But Faamoe hasnt done any better.
Dear Compass,
I am aware that the comments made by Dr. Pierson at the PAC Hearings held on 15 July 2020 are all factual, and that he has invited a “fact check” to be carried out on his comments versus certain aspects of the OAG Report on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of OfReg over its first three years of operations, to properly determine the truthfulness in this whole matter. I am aware, that as a public officer, Dr. Pierson is not allowed to publicly speak on matters of this nature—which is unfair to him, while at the same time the comments of the PAC and Auditor General is made public through the press. Dr. Pierson should be granted and equal chance to prove the veracity of his statements, and defend himself against the allegations made against him.
In this connection, Dr. Pierson should also be allowed to provide copies of the Succession Plan and Exit Strategy left behind by Mr. JP Morgan (of blessed memory), and to comment on any other relevant issues arising in the PAC Hearings. Thank you.
Please keep my comments anonymous.
Where’s that LOL button again?
Dear “Compass” ? Surely an experienced politician would write a letter with proper grammar, a proper addressee, and make reference to himself other than in the 3rd person. So whoever invented this comment needs to do better to pull any wool over our eyes, whether the comments are liked or not.
What a mess and a despicable end of career performance for d
DOKTOR. Time to go Sir, you are digging a deeper hole and your legacy will soon be zilch. Have some self respect and do the real manly ting and resign.
So, when should we be expecting Linford to be replaced and which Lodge brother is next in line?
You really must have a bug up your @$$ about the Lodge! What happened? Were you rejected?
It’s terrible that you think the only reason someone would reject the Lodge is that they were rejected. If that is all you see wrong with the Lodge I pray you have no position of authority in government.
The Lodge is a secret society which uses power to usurp the democratic process and that is wrong no matter which way you flip it.
Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.
I say keep the statements and remove Linford.
I applaud our able Auditor General for a job well done, especially in standing up to prove the bullying attack of lies against her. It is more than disappointing, however, that the PAC’s solution was to expunge the record! Certainly they were doing no favours to the Auditor General by their action so it begs to question why? Why was that evidence not used to charge Pierson for perjury? Why is it that people in high position in these islands are allowed to deliberately lie and commit perjury, without consequence, in an attempt to destroy others? It seems to happen most especially to women who ruffle feathers when they are merely doing their jobs? It happens more than we would want to admit and is disgraceful,
cig can’t go 5 mins without humiliating itself….
A double standard decision. The PAC decided to swear witnesses to ensure that they could be held accountable if they have false or misleading information. I guess the oath is a joke.
I hope I am wrong but I believe that Absolutely zero will happen as a result of these hearing. Does The PAC have the guts to make the bold recommendations that is needed to deal with this failing run away SAGC?
Watch and see how civil servants are treated at the next hearing.
Bernie you lost my vote.
Miller how could you? You preach accountability??
We demand accountability from our PAC.
Do we need a new PAC? I can’t wait to see the watered down recommdations that will result from these hearings.
Don’t forget McKeeworst’s bullying of Swarbrick!
and dan dugay…whom he ran out of town.
Private sector boards are a joke.
its a government entitiy(civil service)…nothing to do with the real private sector
12;51. No it’s not. It has absolutely nothing to do with our civil service. It is a Statutory Authority with is own law and yes private sector board.
If this entity was part of the civil service we would not having these hearings. It is that simply.
who pays their salaries???
Their customers.
Yeah – wouldnt be having the hearings. Got that right – not because there wouldn’t be problems, but because no one would dare lift the stone.
You mean public sector .,
Why wasn’t he charged for giving false info. where is the consistency.
Box dat Linford!
Parliament sanctions for telling lies to the PAC?
Oh, I forgot, only expat Chief Officers are threatened with that (despite having not proven to have done so).
So civil servants get treated differently than board chairs? Who is going to investigate the PAC?
Wait I have a vote.
Now PAC, Pierson gave an oath to tell the truth and your response is to strike the supposedly untruths from the record. While civil servants have been threatened with charges?
Why the double standard? Miller Saunders and the rest of the PAC I expected better.
I would have hoped that a high performing PAC would have set the standard on accountability. How could I be so wrong?
This whole mess reveals yet again why we can never have a Caymanian Auditor General. They would be bullied into submission by the likes of Mr Linford Pierson.
Who would you vote for the qualified Auditor General or the “qualified” Caymanian clown?.
8;02. Mental health is an illness too. Seriously you need help. You are so jealous of Caymanians.
9.28pm So you don’t think the Board Chairman of OffReg and the Minister of Health need help?.
8;02. With an attitude like that you could never be a civil servant.
No one:
Not a single soul:
The Public Accounts Committee Today: “We’ve solved it! We can reduce prices if we reduce the number of gas stations!”
All the PAC committee members who own gas stations…. “Ka Ching!”
What exactly is the point of striking his statements from the record? This is absolutely absurd.
If the PAC determines that his statements were false then it should say so in its report. If it is determined that his statements were false he should face charges of perjury.
To strike his statements from the record will leave a dismal void for posterity to read and wonder about.
Tampering with evidence. Isn’t that against the law ?
You live in a country where politically connected individuals can beat women with zero consequences. What did you honestly think the PAC was going to do, hold Linford accountable for his actions?
Excellent! Now let’s Strike Linford from OfReg’s chairmanship right away. Good going, Auditor General, Winspear.
Its Time for DOKTOR Pierson and ALL!!! hee lodge hoard to be removed from Offreg ranks, striking his allegations from the records mean s#@! His scurrilous Attack on Mrs Winspear and her office warrants his removal along with those inept section heads with their extremely lame excuses and cooked up responses . We are simply paying too much for utilities and for this Offreg leviathan Restructure now and put a woman incharge! Its Time !!! and if they fail to do this close da bitch down!
Fire Linford now!
It must be nice to be so bad at your job you have to lie about it and still be looking forward to a promotion because of it. Caymanian Government. Its where all the money goes.
Wouldn’t they want to keep his outlandish and childish statements on record for posterity’s sake? Cayman needs an accurate historical record of its “heroes”!
What the PAC saw was only a glimpse of what goes on in the Boardroom.
Linford has been pulling the strings from day one and is one of the main reasons the organization has not progressed.
He even admitted to the PAC that people say he is a bully. It is clear that the current administration fears him and will not dismiss him or ask him to resign. The only hope is the rest of the Board who do not seem to fear him, we shall see how long they last!