Tag: Public Accounts Committee
PAC troubled by salary hike ‘mistake’ at CTC
(CNS): What has been described as a salary hike ‘mistake’ at the Cayman Turtle Centre resulted in 24 people, including the CEO and other senior managers, getting a second pay increase that they should not have received, which took almost 12 months to be spotted. This so-called error troubled the Public Accounts Committee during its […]
PAC mum on removal of OfReg chairman
(CNS): Public Accounts Committee Chair Ezzard Miller has said he is unable to confirm or deny reports that Speaker McKeeva Bush refused to allow PAC’s OfReg report on the House floor because it calls for the firing of Linford Pierson, the regulator’s board chairman. Miller told CNS that he could not comment on a post […]
AG: Speaker has no authority to block report
(CNS): Legal advice from the Attorney General’s Chambers released by the Public Accounts Committee shows that Speaker McKeeva Bush had no authority to block a report about OfReg last week. Attorney General Samuel Bulgin signed the advice, which stated that there is no provision in either the Constitution or Standing Orders that requires the speaker […]
Speaker refuses to lay PAC report on OfReg audit
(CNS): A Public Accounts Committee report on its hearings about a damning report on government’s utilities regulator by the Office of the Auditor General was not presented to the Legislative Assembly on Friday, as expected, after the speaker refused to lay the document. In an unusual move, House Speaker McKeeva Bush said he had not […]
Finance ministry is the star of PAC ‘Oscars’
(CNS): The Ministry of Finance walked away with most of the special gongs handed out Thursday at the now annual Public Accounts Committee awards for government accountants. The idea of the bean-counters ‘Oscars’ is to publicly recognise civil servants who achieved on-time, unqualified accounts through audit after years of problems with the public finances.
CUC boss says future of power is solar
(CNS): Whether solar panels in the Cayman Islands should be mainly located on rooftops or on land farms to meet the proposed energy goals may be up for debate, but Richard Hew, the CEO of Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC), is certain that the sun will provide the country’s future power needs. Appearing before the Public […]
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 […]
Pump price ‘not fair’ says OfReg deputy chair
(CNS): The deputy chair of OfReg’s board of directors has confirmed that the utilities regulator now has information that indicates the fuel suppliers are not passing on the savings they could to consumers when world prices fall. Ronnie Dunn said a recent survey of pump prices by the fuel team at OfReg showed that rates […]
OfReg exec jobs advertised day after PAC
(CNS): The timing of advertisements placed in the local print media for the executive director positions for both the ICT and electricity sectors at OfReg were “purely coincidental”, said the CEO Malike Cummings, and “not in any way tied to the incumbents’ testimonies during the current Public Accounts Committee”. The senior jobs held by Alee […]
OfReg set back ICT progress, says director
(CNS): The executive director responsible for the regulation of the telecommunications sector under the umbrella utilities regulator, OfReg, has said the creation of this entity had not only failed to meet public expectations but had also undermined the progress of ICT regulation and development. Alee Fa’amoe told the Public Accounts Committee that the creation of […]
Chairperson deflects blame for OfReg failings
(CNS): Dr Linford Pierson, who chairs the board of the beleaguered utilities regulator, OfReg, arrived at Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday ready for a fight. The former Cabinet minister blamed everything and everyone, from Cabinet to the staff, for the multitude of failings surrounding the authority identified in a report by the auditor general. Pierson […]
