‘When you write a report it should be truthful & balanced’- Opposition Leader
Another report by Auditor General Ms Sonia M. Webster has come under serious disrepute.
This time it is the one done on EZ Shipping.
It was yesterday, March 2, 2023, at the House of Assembly (HoA) meeting that Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) slammed the Report on COVID-19 Border Security Contracts for Static Marine Platforms as biased and one-sided.
He highlighted in his wrap-up of the debate on the EZ Shipping Report that the Auditor General did not even interview EZ Shipping; therefore, the report lost its legitimacy.
The Premier noted: “This is not the way you do things.”
: It was yesterday, March 2, 2023, at the
House of Assembly (HoA) meeting that Premier and Minister of Finance Dr
the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) slammed the Report on COVID-19
Border Security Contracts for Static Marine Platforms as biased and
one-sided.
Report lacks legitimacy?
In addition to showing the one-sidedness of the report on EZ Shipping, Dr Wheatley stated that he had been a member of the National Security Council (NSC) and no one there was even interviewed, and he as the Premier had not been intervened either.
The Premier noted that the report was so biased that it only relied on information from the Police and did not get enough information from others in the Joint Task Force, such as Immigration and Customs. Many residents still do not trust the Police under Commissioner Mark Collins.
Under the law, the Customs Department is responsible for border security and not the police.
Residents continue to question the
motives of the many one-sided reports from the Auditor General, Sonia M.
Webster, whether she took instructions from the controversial Governor
John J. Rankin and the one-man Commissioner Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom.
Lack balance- Hon Fraser
For his part, Opposition Leader Hon Julian Fraser (R3) also slammed the report, saying it was biased and “lacks balance.”
The veteran legislator was concerned about the lack of information in the report from the owners of EZ Shipping and the reputational damage that can be done from such an unbalanced document.
Hon Fraser suggested that laws should be put in place to determine what is a fair report.
“What is fair, Madam Speaker, is when you write a report it should be balanced. First, it should be truthful and, second, it should be balanced,” Hon Fraser stated.
Was the AG taking instructions?
Meanwhile, residents continue to question the motives of the many one-sided reports from the Auditor General whether she took instructions from the controversial Governor John J. Rankin and the one-man Commissioner Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom.
If that is so, Ms Webster would have violated the Auditor Bill, and it could render her reports illegitimate.
