There is a real reason to fear that Barbadians may be losing confidence in the institutions which have been established to stand in the breach and be the eyes and ears for the public to ensure our interests are being safeguarded.
Days ago, we called on our legislators in Parliament to use their power to provide the Auditor General not only with the resources necessary to undertake the office’s important work but to also give him protection against civil action as a result of conclusions articulated in his annual report.
Auditor General Leigh Trotman made it clear his office remains exposed, is still understaffed and, in some ways, he is hamstrung in his capacity to address some areas of his remit.
The country’s Auditor General, who has held the post for more than 14 years, is responsible for forming an independent opinion on the Government’s accounts, based on the audits carried out by his office. The audits are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of Barbados and the Financial Administration and Audit Act.
Given the public’s response to his annual reports on the conduct of financial affairs by Ministries, Government Departments and Statutory Boards, we worry that too many people have concluded the Auditor General is a mere paper tiger and his office requires greater powers to compel timely cooperation with his requests for information.
Even more important, there is increasing consensus that the Office of the Auditor General requires the power to recommend criminal action where it is deemed necessary.
The question of waning public confidence in state institutions has also been triggered by the disclosure from the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) that it was investigating the recent island-wide blackout to determine if the Barbados Light & Power Company (BLPC) failed to act with prudence and or breached the Guaranteed Standards of Service (GSS) to which it is legally committed.
As this newspaper reported, the FTC’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Marsha Atherley-Ikechi confirmed a preliminary report from the power company was already on her desk and a final report to the regulator was underway.
The FTC boss told this media house: “As per the requirements, they must submit a formal in-depth report within six weeks of the occurrence of the event.
“We will assess that to determine whether they acted prudently or not and if there are any things of concern to us.”
We appreciate that as a small nation, our resources are limited. However, it is of concern that the regulator has to rely on BLPC reporting on itself in order to determine whether the Canadian-owned power supplier followed all the rules.
Is it unreasonable to ask that, given the number and frequency of such events occurring outside of emergency situations such as a hurricane or other major catastrophe, the FTC ought to be in a position to send in its own, independent investigators to determine what went wrong?
An unreliable and inconsistent supply of electricity to a country has serious implications for its development, quality of life, and ability to attract foreign investment.
How is Barbados to market itself as a high-quality tourist destination or a world-class player in the global business sector when the lights go out so often and island-wide blackouts are not outliers but par for the course?
This is a matter that requires attention at the highest levels. There is too much at stake.
It was not that long ago that Trinidad and Tobago used to be the butt of Barbadian jokes because electricity outages were a feature of life in the twin-island republic.
The infamous monkey on the power line that caused an island-wide blackout more than a decade ago is still discussed with hilarity to this day. Blackouts are no monkey business. They ought to be treated as a national issue that attracts attention at the highest levels.
At this stage, Barbados cannot afford the closure of schools and businesses because the power fails across the country. We need to know not only whether the company has failed to meet service quality standards but we want firm assurances that it will not be recurring.
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