The Editor Speaks: How did we get into this mess?

 

The mess I am speaking about is the Port Authority who has failed to address “major losses”.

 

James Parsons, the financial controller at the Port Authority, says his warnings have been ignored and “in the last two years the directors have invited me to just one board meeting”.

 

And at that meeting he presented a special report from KPMG that made suggestions how the port could turn around its losses.

 

He had originally been allocated fifteen minutes for his presentation but when he got there the board had cut this down to ten minutes.

 

And I have to ask Mr. Parsons, “What did you do about it?”

 

If he did anything it was hushed up. But did he just “shut up”?

 

Parsons made these revelations (to me they are revelations) to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last Thursday (19) after the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) raised concerns about what was going on at the Port Authority from the Auditor General, Alastair Swarbrick, who catalogued a list of problems there in his report published last June, “The Financial and Performance Reporting of Statutory Authorities and Government Companies”.

 

The port was running at a significant loss, he announced.

 

It was back in 2009, Parsons told the MLAs, when the economic slump was felt. Cargo was now down 50% and cruise ship revenue was and still is dropping. Although the management had cut down staff to the bare minimum as regards security, safety concerns and efficiency of operations, the authority is no longer a viable concern.

 

The board has spent in the region of a million dollars – yes, you did read that right but I will repeat it. The board spent in the region of a million dollars ON CONSULTANT AND LEGAL FEES over the last few years.

 

So what did the board do with the advice from these consultants?

 

?????????

 

Parsons said there were attempts made to increase fees to tender operators but the board rejected it. He said the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association had an agreement with the Cayman government not to put fees up as part of its contribution to the construction of the Royal Watler pier.

 

The only area left to increase fees is cargo operations.

 

“There is not a whole lot more we can do,” Parsons said, implying no one had listened or heeded his warnings that action needed to be taken.

 

With the government indirectly subsidizing the Port Authority to over $3.5M by paying its insurance cover I can only wonder now if any of the recommendations in the expensive consultant reports will now be acted upon and whether they will ever be published?

 

The problem is, with time passing on probably none of the recommendations contained therein are valid anymore.

 

It is like a cut. If you act quickly you can stem the flow of blood. If you don’t the cut gets worse, more blood escapes and the only remedy is a transfusion. If there is no blood in the bank there isn’t much hope.