Little Bay port ferry terminal and boardwalk
by Bennette Roach
The Government of Montserrat (GoM) through a press release from the Premier’s office is moving to take action as a follow up to the information from the Premier that his Government is to report to DFID towards the end of this month, its plans and suggestions to move forward.
The Premier and his government finding that to be impractical and almost impossible decided, according to the press release, “to establish a Task Force to review the operations and functions of the Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC).”
The seemingly rushed document setting out the background information, states among other things, “In 2007 the whole of the Government of Montserrat investment portfolio was moved from the Office of the Premier to the Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC).”
Saying, “However, good governance for State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and statutory corporations requires that they have their own enabling legislation which sets out their mandate and powers.”
Citing some examples, the release states, ‘For example, the United Kingdom uses statutory corporations which are created by a separate statute. Such entities typically have no shareholders and their powers are defined by the Act of Parliament which creates them.”
Cocluding, “Therefore, state owned enterprises and statutory corporations are not used to describe a private company which operates as a conventional shareholder-owned company registered under a country’s Companies Acts;”
And: “The MDC bylaws follow the format of a private company and as such they do not outline the mandate of the MDC, which an enabling Act would have done.”
Experts in this area have discounted much of the information set out as irrelevant to the MDC and its creation.
The release explains the ‘present situation’ as above that GoM is to establish a Task Force to review the operations and functions of MDC.
It explains that GoM, “Following the recent elections the Government, having recognized that there were governance issues with the MDC, a wholly owned Government company, sought to address this; firstly by removal of the then Board and the appointment of a new interim Board.
Subsequent to that decision, Her Majesty’s Government suspended funding for all programmes, except for operating expenses and salaries, following the findings of a UK Department for International Development Audit.
The DfID audit of the MDC had also found a number of irregularities primarily associated with governance, policy and procedures and risk management.
The Government of Montserrat had also advised DfID that they would establish a Task Force to review the operations of MDC and make recommendations on how to go forward.”
The release sets out that “The Task Force will be made up of a maximum six persons drawn from Montserratian nationals, residents and other professionals with relevant expertise and familiar with the Montserrat context.”
It outlines the task force will be headed by the chairman of the “MDC’s Interim Board and importantly, will also include the DfID Country Representative on the island who will work in partnership with the Government of Montserrat.”
The rest of the document notes: “…they will have four weeks in which to review the current operations, particularly the governance arrangements of the MDC, and make recommendations in order to ensure that the corporation is fit for purpose and has the capacity and capability to deliver Government’s policy objectives for Investment & Trade and Tourism.
“Among the specific activities of the task force are to review the mandate of the MDC and the former Tourism Board and make recommendations for an appropriate mandate and functions for a government owned investment and tourism entity.
“…Reviewing the current and future human resource challenges and requirements, and looking at issues concerning leadership and management of the MDC are in its remit.
The Task Force will also document lessons learned from the MDC experience and recommend safe-guards for future arms-length public bodies and statutory corporations in Montserrat.
“…On a broader scale, the Task Force will review current MDC arrangements and recommend transitional arrangements for the corporation and the projects for which it is responsible.”
“It is also to develop Terms of Reference for Government to obtain support in developing an Investment Strategy and make recommendations for a suitable process that involves full stakeholder participation.
Likewise, specific Terms of Reference are to be prepared for Government to obtain support in developing a Tourism Master Plan, and make recommendations for a suitable process that also involves full stakeholder participation.
“Finally the Task Force will be required to draft an action plan for implementation of the recommendations with high level costings and timelines.
“They will have 2 weeks deliver an interim report on the governance arrangements at MDC including their initial recommendations. And, within 4 weeks the Task Force is expected to deliver a final report of the review of operations of the Montserrat Development Corporation with transitional provisions as well as outlining how much this process will cost.”
