ACCOUNTABILITY MIA?: Govt claims no sufficient records of Minnis admin’s food program spending

ACCOUNTABILITY MIA?: Govt claims no sufficient records of Minnis admin’s food program spending
Volunteers prepare food assistance packages at Lend a Hand Bahamas, which received $25,000 from Lyford Cay Foundations earlier this year to provide food support to families affected by COVID-19. (PHOTO: LEND A HAND BAHAMAS)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — An investigation launched into the Minnis administration’s National Food Distribution Program and its spending concluded that there was not sufficient documentation to account for how the $54 million was spent, according to the government.

Director of Communications Latrae Rahming advised on Thursday that the government has concluded its report on the food program and will release the findings into the public domain. 

He said after auditors interviewed government officials and internal parties, there was a significant lack of information that speaks to the government’s interaction and relationship with the NGOs in the food program. 

Rahming said the government was not satisfied there was sufficient documentation on record to show how the money was spent.

He indicated that based on that lack of information, the Ministry of Finance is trying to ascertain the relevant information from NGOs and that conversation remains ongoing.

“Anytime there is a significant amount of taxpayers’ dollars spent on any program in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and there is a lack of information as to where and how it was spent, that is an issue,” he added.

The National Food Distribution Task Force was established last year in response to concerns of access to food across The Bahamas in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It officially came to an end this month after a $54 million investment.

The task force’s chairwoman, Susan Larson, has said that some 18,000 households that were still benefiting and depending on the most recent phase of the food assistance program will have to be absorbed by the Department of Social Services.

The programme included the Bahamas Feeding Network, the Grand Bahama Food Assistance Committee, Hands for Hunger, IDEA Relief, Lend a Hand Bahamas, One Eleuthera Foundation and the Bahamas Red Cross.

At the peak of the pandemic in 2020, about 57,000 households had registered for assistance.

Upon coming into office, the Davis administration canceled the program and impacted individuals were added onto social assistance at the Ministry of Social Services.

The government then launched reviews into the work done by the former government across several ministries and agencies.

“The idea that we shouldn’t audit taxpayers’ investment is ludicrous,” Rahming said on Thursday.

“I believe that we owe it to the Bahamian people, insofar as public policy and the measurement of public policy, to be transparent to the Bahamian people.”

About Sloan Smith

Sloan Smith is a senior digital reporter at Eyewitness News, covering a diverse range of beats, from politics and crime to environment and human interest. In 2018, Sloan received a nomination for the “Leslie Higgs Feature Writer of The Year Award” from The Bahamas Press Club for her work with Eyewitness News.