By Ronald Toito’ona 

An audit of the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) has raised concerns about “possible double-dipping” and “conflicts of interest” involving a government official who received more than SBD$500,000 in grants.

Auditor General David Dennis said that this official, who he declined to name,  was part of the ESP Technical Committee set up by the ESP Oversight Committee in 2020-2021. 

At the same time, the same official was hired as a consultant to review the ESP evaluation report.

“We did have some concerns that these evaluations were undertaken by a consultant who was a member of the technical committee, and who also received money from the ESP,” Dennis explained.

“Money received included payment for services as a consultant to the committee and running the evaluation program, a grant for an agricultural business, and also some rent relief for a tenant,” he added.

“It is difficult to see how someone who received over half a million dollars from the ESP could be perceived as a suitably independent person to evaluate the ESP.”

During the audit, the Auditor General’s office found that the government had not released 10 evaluation reports on the ESP to the public.

“Our recommendation is that these evaluation reports be made public,” Dennis stated. 

“We believe the reports were shared with Members of Parliament, but they have not been formally tabled in Parliament. 

“Making these reports available is an important step to ensure public accountability and transparency.”

The evaluation reports cover various topics, including:

– Report on Schools,

– Provincial government,

– COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan,

– Performance Report,

– Churches,

– ESP survey results and impact evaluation,

– Household survey results,

– Constituencies,

– Value chain of export commodities, and

– COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Program.

The Auditor General believes these reports are crucial for the public to understand how the ESP funds were used and whether the program achieved its intended goals.