FINANCIAL AUDIT TO BE COMPLETED BY OCTOBER

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Finance, Health and Welfare the Hon. Ronnie W. Skelton has announced that Government is going ahead with the audit into the state of the Territory’s finances as at June 16, 2003.

Speaking on August 12 at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall, Road Town, Minister Skelton disclosed that the audit will soon commence and that it will be completed, at the latest, by the end of October. He was at the time responding to a question from a member of the audience.

The occasion was the fourth community meeting hosted by Government as part of a campaign to engage in dialogues with residents throughout the Territory. Meetings have already been held at East End/Long Look, on Virgin Gorda and at Sea Cows Bay.

The Minister emphasised at recent public meetings that it is important for the Government and the people to know what the BVI’s financial position was at the time the present Administration was elected to office.

Only a few weeks after the new Government was sworn in on June 17, the Minister of Finance reported that several financial obligations were unearthed, which apparently were never made public through the media or via any other means of communication.

Consequently, the Ministry of Finance asked the Attorney General (AG)’s Chambers to look into all the agreements, including petty contracts, which were signed just prior to the general elections to determine whether or not some of them could be held in abeyance.

The objective for this, according to Hon. Skelton, is to channel the financial resources into areas which the present Administration considers to be more worthwhile.

In particular, Government has reiterated at several different fora that education and other social services, including health and welfare, are the priority sectors into which the new Administration will inject most of its resources.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance requested that the Office of the Governor, which is responsible for the Audit Department, commission an urgent assessment to determine what the financial status of the BVI was at the time of the general elections in June.

“We have some ambitious programmes for this country, but the only way for us to accomplish these things is for the Government and the people to work as a team, maximise the use of our resources and move forward,” the Minister of Finance stated at one of the public meetings.