WHERE ARE THE audited financial statements for the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC)?
Edmund Hinkson wants to know.
The Member of Parliament for St James North made the call in the House of Assembly yesterday, as Government tabled a resolution to approve the guarantee of the payment of principal and interest in respect of the issuance of a $73 million bond for providing capital and funding relating to the island’s Cane Industry Support Project.
Hinkson said it was unfair to the taxpayers for a political administration to come to the House seeking approval of funds, but unable to provide financial statements for the statutory corporation involved.
“There is no clear direction being shown for the development of the sugar industry,” he claimed.
He said what made it worse was that the Democratic Labour Party came to power on a platform of transparency and accountability, but had been unable to do so in all levels of Government business.
“These should not just be buzzwords. Government should be forthright with its people. It is impractical to bring a resolution to Parliament for money without providing up-to-date financial statements of the statutory corporation for which money is voted for.”
He noted that with regards to the Barbados Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation (BADMC), no financial statements for the entity had been tabled in the House of Assembly since 2009.
“We can’t vote properly on this without statements or accounts to look at. There is no transparency or accountability for members to vote with a clear conscience on this bill. No copies have been tabled from the BADMC for the past seven years. That speaks volumes about their lack of it, as they promised in the last election.” (BA)
