PARLIAMENT’S Public Accounts Committee (PAC) now seem destined to table two separate reports on their investigations into the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel overrun.

Members from both sides of the House (Government and Opposition) are to prepare separate reports, which are to be sent to the committee’s secretary by tomorrow and are expected to be approved when they meet again next Tuesday.

The decision to produce a majority report from the Government members, and a minority report from the Opposition members, followed the failure of the two sides Tuesday to agree on the basis for a single report.

Opposition members insisted that without a proper financial audit to produce specific reasons as to why there has been a US$43-million overrun on the project, to name those responsible and to implement sanctions, the committee would have failed to fulfil its mandate.

“We are putting it on the table that a forensic financial audit must be done and, in addition, the solicitor general must be asked to make a determination as to whether the indemnity clauses can in fact be invoked, and whether action cannot be taken to recover costs as a result of action or inaction,” said the Opposition’s spokesman on finance, Audley Shaw.

He said that while the board of the ownership firm, Andco, should share the blame for negligence, the project managers – UDC (Urban Development Corporation) and Nevalco – should be pinned down, as well, “because they were the controllers of government money, they held the purse strings”.

According to Junor, the report should not focus on pointing fingers, but instead on making recommendations to ensure against such overruns occurring again.

Chairman Mike Henry said that the committee could not overlook the need for recovering funds.

“I have absolutely no doubt that a court case which is currently before the courts will have a determination as to who bears what costs,” Junor responded.

“I am not prepared to assign blame to one party or to two. The blame in the matter. must be assigned to those directors charged with the governance of this project and that is the board of Andco. Don’t simply pick out Nevalco and UDC,” Junor said.