following investigative audit of processes
by Bennette Roach
This picture appears on the MDC website home page – give us your thoughts on what this rerepesents
On Wednesday, November 26, 2014, His Excellency the Governor, Adrian Davis during his monthly press conference informed that the Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC) was about to be dissolved and a new board installed for six months in the first instance. He was at the time surprisingly forthcoming when he responded to the question that there were many questions rolling around about activities at the Government owned business corporation.
“Yes,” he said, “there are certainly things rolling around,” as though he was waiting impatiently to get it out.
The Cabinet considered a paper on the MDC this morning and took an immediate decision to change most of the board of directors,” he said, adding that he could not “give details yet because I’m not convinced that the existing board of directors have been told.”
He informed that “as soon as they have been told the Attorney General’s Office will issue letters of revocations of their appointments, and appoint new directors which will be on an interim basis for six months in the first instance.”
The action must have been on-going as he provided the information since the next day a completely new board of the Montserrat Development Corporation MDC was announced, their tenure “for six months initially, beginning November 26, 2014, ending May 25, 2015.
The board comprises representatives from both the public and private sectors, with Julian Daniel replacing John E. Ryan as the new Chairman of the board. Considering some of the criticisms of the former board, questions immediately surfaced on the suggestion of possible conflict. More than one enquiry suggest, ‘Julian Daniel is currently the engineer contracted by MDC working on Piper’s Pond; if he is Chairman, surely is this not a conflict of interest that he is Chairing an organisation which he is also working for?’ TMR was unable to confirm either way but also learnt that Daniel had been working, but not with MDC momentarily.
The full slate is as follows:
To run from November 26, 2014 and ending May 25, 2015.
- Julian Daniel – Technical – Chairman
- Hon. Financial Secretary – Government
- Office of the Premier Representative – Government (formerly Cabinet Secretary)
- PS, MCWL or Representative – Government
- PS, MATLHE or Representative – Government
- Lawyer Hogarth Sergeant – Technical
- Rupert Isles – Private Sector
- Wendel Lee – Private Sector
- DfID Representative
Immediate concerns raised, why the top heavy government representation with four direct public servants? And, with the complaints that the CEO doesn’t function well particularly with staff, should he not join the dismissed board?
Follow-up questions to the Governor at the press conference yielded the following explanation from the Governor: “We have had a routine audit visit which was a joint visit by a DFID Internal Auditor in cooperation with the Montserrat Internal Audit Unit, who have looked at MDC and they have investigated various processes in MDC.”
The Governor said he could not discuss the contents and that the Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Financial Secretary will discuss the contents of the report in London next week. He said the report is an internal DIFID report, but we (the Governor will also be in London) will need to consider it. He then noted, “The immediate reaction we have taken, partial because the new government wants to take it anyway and partial, in response to the report, is to change the board of directors.”
