Kudos must go the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Osbourne Bodden and his fellow committee member Rolston Anglin for pushing to make the meetings of the PAC public.
This decision follows in line of many proclamations of the People’s Progressive Movement government concerning freedom of information, openness and transparency of government affairs.
Even though the reports of the Auditor General that the PAC reviews have already been made public – which was another development that occurred under the current government – there are many things of interest that could come out of the meetings.
For instance, the current PAC meetings deal with government’s capital project to build the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal. Residents will recall the report was very controversial, and even led to threats of lawsuits against the Auditor General.
While we respect the fearless work of the Auditor General, the public should realise his office has a particular objective when looking into projects such as the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal, and that is to determine if the government received value for its money spent.
The PAC is also interested in finding out whether the government received value for money, but its recommendations can be broader in scope than those of the Auditor General. This includes having the ability to call witnesses not spoken to by the Auditor General.
Another benefit of open PAC meetings is that the public gets to hear the exact testimony of witnesses. Although the Auditor General reports often identify who said what, it is selective in that information. The public might want to hear a broader version of the testimony and through open PAC meetings, it will.
In addition, witnesses cannot hide behind a cloak of confidentiality. They must sit before the PAC and the public and make statements for the record very similarly as they would before a court of law. Hearing their statements, either in person, on the radio or through press accounts, allows the public to decide for itself if they think the witnesses are telling the truth.
The open PAC meetings are a victory for transparency. However, there is no guarantee that the next constituted Standing Public Accounts Committee will follow suit and keep their meetings open. Indeed, the meetings were opened to the public before, only to have them closed again.
Perhaps it is time for the government to consider legislation guaranteeing PAC meetings will remain open on a permanent basis.
There is no guarantee that the next constituted Standing Public Accounts Committee will follow suit and keep their meetings open
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