The Cayman Islands spent an estimated $521,090 on paving private business and church parking lots in Cayman Brac between 2010 and 2011, according information compiled by the auditor general’s office.
In a public interest report released Wednesday, Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick states that there appeared to be no legal basis for using public funds to pave private lots.
“In respect of these specific laws [the Roads Law, 2005 Revision and the National Roads Authority Law, 2006 Revision], we were unable to identify any statutory provisions that allow for the paving of private parking lots,” the public interest report read.
“We also reviewed the relevant budget documents to identify whether the government had the authorities to incur expenditure for the paving of private parking lots. We were unable to identify any.”
Mr. Swarbrick said he would present a copy of the report to the Cayman Islands Attorney General Sam Bulgin “for his consideration”.
“I was going to take it to the attorney general as the first point of call in terms of…the totality of the expenditure and being inappropriate and not in line with legislative authorisation,” Mr. Swarbrick said.
In a response to the report, the Ministry of District Administration – which has overall responsibility for the paving projects in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman – said there was nothing within the two laws referenced that “specifically prevents” the paving of parking lots.
“Monies are provided for under the ministry’s budget to cover the maintenance and repair of roads and associated works,” the ministry statement read. The auditor general’s office said the ministry told its representatives that the parking lot paving was considered a contribution to the overall development of Cayman Brac and that it would act as an “economic stimulus” to local businesses and churches.
The parking lot paving was part of a much larger infrastructure project on the Brac between 2010 and 2011 that included more than 25,000 tonnes of hot mixed asphalt on public roads in the Sister Islands. An additional 2,765 tonnes were used in government entity parking lots and some 4,870 tonnes of asphalt were used on private parking lots.
A total of 56 business and church lots were paved as of October 2011, according to Mr. Swarbrick’s review. Paving those lots cost an estimated $521,090. The entire paving project cost nearly $3.5 million.
“We confirm with the ministry that no financial contributions were sought or required from the beneficiaries of the paving of private parking lots, although we are led to understand that in a number [of] instances the beneficiaries did offer to pay for the paving, but were informed it was not required,” auditors noted.
The auditor general’s report pointed out that the large-scale paving was not possible prior to the purchase of a portable hot mixed asphalt plant for Cayman Brac during the 2009/10 government budget year.
The purchase of the mobile asphalt plant was bid out and the purchase was approved for $614,547 in January 2010, the auditor’s office noted.
However, there was no formal business case prepared to demonstrate the value of the mobile asphalt plant or how it compared with other options, including having the private sector do the work. Cayman’s financial regulations state capital purchases greater than $300,000 require a business case be presented to the public sector investment committee.
The ministry told auditors that other options for the road paving projects were considered, but officials stated their view that the private sector had “no appetite” for such a project. Mobilisation of the asphalt plant in Grand Cayman to the Brac was considered cost prohibitive.
Minister for District Administration Juliana O’Connor-Connolly told the Legislative Assembly during a response to a parliamentary question: “A private contractor would not be able to continually keep their equipment over in the Brac … there would be a cost associated with this. This is one reason, actually, why roads haven’t been upgraded in these many years as past governments have been ‘waiting on the right time’ to undertake the project. Meanwhile, my people in Cayman Brac are in dire need of better roads.”
Conflict of interest?
The employment of a project manager was also not sent out for tender, as is typically done if the value of the tender is more than $50,000, according to the auditor general’s office.
In this case, the project manager employed on a sole source bid was Colford Scott; the chairman of the National Roads Authority.
“We were informed the project manager engaged was the best person for the job, due to his significant qualifications and experience in the industry,” the auditor’s report read.
However, using Mr. Scott – due to the “significant involvement” of the National Roads Authority in the paving project – presented “the risk of at least a perceived conflict of interest”.
Auditors said the ministry told them it “did not see any conflict of interest” and that there was no need to mitigate the risk. The majority of equipment and road crew for the paving project in Cayman Brac came from the roads authority; however, district administration had overall responsibility for its management, auditors were told.
Related Videos
Our roads were fine before the mega-asphalt paving of private yards and businesses. These handsome ebony asphalt ribbons of road (which have already turned grey) will crack and shift and heave sooner or later. Right now they are hurricane crab highways, but they are definitely fine-looking now. Alas, what we need are jobs for the unemployed, not great-looking roads.
The minister is responsible for policy making and legislation. The chief officer is responsible for administration and finances.
Sooo, let me take a stab in the dark here and say. If I were working in a bank and were a teller and I decided one day that I wanted to give my family and friends a paid vacation. I could just reach in and take what I needed to facilitate this with NO fear of going the PRISON? Are you kidding me? This is a blatant case of misappropriation of public funds. These people are out of control and show NO regard for the offices they hold. Who are they going to blame for this one..the PPM or the Road Authority?
This argument came up before and from what I remember their explanation was that they paved some private driveways to bring it up to the height of the newly paved road in lieu of leaving the owners in a flood prone situation with thier driveways being lower than the street this would cause all the runoff to go on to their driveways.
I would think that if any neighborhood on Grand Cayman was paved and the road was now higher the people driveways they would feel it was the CIGs responsibility to insure that their project doesn’t cause peoples driveways to flood.
Question, does anyone know if the roads were over paved or ripped up and repaved to the same level. If so this would make that argument invalid.
and the people with the shiny new driveways and congregation of the church will now be voting for…..
Editor’s note: For clarity’s sake, the auditor general’s review found no driveways had been paved, only private business parking lots and one church lot.
Wow, that second picture – that is a big unit!
ON SECOND PICTURE:
Ju Ju, driving without a seat belt is illegal? You could fall down and hurt yourself!!!!
More of the same, It’s easier to beg forgiveness than ask for permission.
Nothing will ever come of this major infraction on the use of public funds on private businesses, well except for a bunch of future votes. So don’t waste anymore time and money pursuing it.
At this point I feel for any business that got left out of this generous spreading of black goo. And I wonder if there is a political correlation with the leftouters?
Y’all leave Ju Ju lone, us Brackers ga put her in ‘gain. I bleve
its all an innocent thing. she jus tryin ti hep Brackers she’s so kind hearted wud’n hurt a fly.
Ju Ju don’t d’serve ti hav ti pay fi dis pavin wen Ryan in Dart gettin huge kencessions. Da AG shud look at di 6.5 million Mikol Ryan owe di govment, leve JuJu ‘lone.
At lease wen y’all needed representation JuJu did her best fi y’all, she never turn none i yu down wile odda legal aide lawyas didn’t even show up ti court fi ya!. JuJu neva abandon none oh her clients wedda dey had money or not, Ju Ju is a sweetheart and she’s di best.
Ju zu is the best an most compassionate Woman lawyer in di Cayman Islands. Y U tink Brackers luv oh so much? Its a reason!
Leave Ju Ju ‘lone!
My spirit was not only grieved but I was somewhat enraged at the attacks without all the facts against our Deputy premier on this morning in a CNS FORUM.
To criticize an individually politically is one thing, but to place personal attacks on the a public official with no restraint is outragous and must be stopped.
I had the chance to heard Ms Occonnor Conolly speak, especially when she was on radio some months ago, let me inform her critics that I am proud that we have a Caymanian female Attorney that is one of our own grassroots young ladies.She is graced with an intellectual vocabulary at the highest.
Some ignorant bloggers seem to be living in oblivion or is just simply idiotic and uninformed while attempt to bring down someone who obviously is living and functioning at a higher intellectual level than her critics.
I must speak out against this unacceptable disrespectul behavior, it is not going to fly this time. The media should not be allowed to conduct business to launch attacks that will reduce the educational or moral value of a free individual, and must be harnessed in some legal form or fashion
Everyone in Cayman knows that the Deputy Premier is a very highly educated woman and those of you in the CNS forum are out of line to disrespect her by your unkind words and your falsifying and questioning her qualifications as a Caymanian Attorney. But of course there is a group of you morons who do nothing else in a CNS forum but try to tear down the character and credentials of Caymanian professionals especially their highly educated women.
A word of advise for you;
Try and improve yourself, your own character, your own lives, and those of your children and families around you; and you will not find time to point a finger trying to destroy anyone else.
Signed,
A Caymanian fedup with the gross disrespect of the media for our citizens and elected officials.
I have no negative comment to make. I will wait to hear from Ms. Julie after advice from her lawyers.
Everything the opposition puts out there is not the real truth. Sometimes the Auditor General and others play the political card game as well. So let us wait and see what the end is going to be.
I wish the UDP would publish the 2009 report of bad governance by the PPM and how they raped the public purse that put us in this mess.
Come on UDP time to pull out the rod of correction on this PPM. Let us see the articles from 2009 and the books open wide please!