OPPOSITION members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives yesterday condemned the main report on the Sandals Whitehouse issue as full of conclusions designed to appease without pointing out the cause and who should bear responsibility.

In their minority report, first made public yesterday, the Opposition members of the committee, led by their spokesman on finance Audley Shaw, again demanded a financial audit to determine what specifically caused the US$43 million cost overrun on the hotel project, and a new forensic financial audit, as well.

The Opposition members’ report said that the financial audit was needed to establish whether internal controls were established for the project, whether there was adherence to those controls and to establish all assets and liabilities of the managing company, ANDCo, to determine whether it was able to service its debts or was technically insolvent.

“The overall objective of a financial audit is to ensure that the full overrun of the project is known,” the minority report said. “The current estimate of US$43.36 million must be seen as preliminary and does not include all interest costs, contingencies such as claims by contractors, legal fees and other associated costs.”

“Until all these costs are identified and quantified, we will not know the full cost of the project,” the report said. The Opposition also called for a forensic financial audit to “conclusively put this issue to rest”.

“The amount of overrun and the accountability questions must be addressed if the Government believes in transparency,” the Opposition members said in their report.

The report also asked that the solicitor general be requested to determine whether claims should be made to recover costs, as a result of what it contends was “poor performance, and that Parliament immediately adopt a Bill, tabled last year by the Leader of the Opposition, to amend the Contractor General Act to allow for sanctions for breaches of that Act.

The committee will meet again Tuesday to sign off on both the minority report from the Opposition members, as well as the original or majority report which is supported by the Government members.

Delroy Chuck, Opposition spokesman on justice, acted as chairman of the committee yesterday, in the absence of Mike Henry, the interim chairman, who is abroad.