Representatives of local shipping company “EZ Shipping” are calling out Representative for the Second District, the Honourable Melvin “Mitch” Turnbull following his criticisms of the Report on the Examination of the House of Assembly’s Covid 19 Assistance Grants.
A legal representative for “EZ Shipping” has released a statement on behalf of the company, chastising Turnbull for criticizing the methods of the Attorney General in the wake of the newest audit report following his support for her methods in prior instances.
“Members of the House of Assembly criticised the Auditor General’s report on COVID-19 Assistance Grants, including the Honorable Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull, who was cited in the report. Mr Turnbull told the Assembly that the processes adopted by the Auditor General failed to meet the international industry standards and were woefully lacking. Yet in March earlier this year, Mr Turnbull championed the flawed Auditor General’s Static Marine Platform Report and criticised other members of the Assembly who had challenged aspects of the report”, the statement said.
“Mr Turnbull has changed his tune after becoming the subject of the Assistance Grants report. He has turned on the Auditor General and dismissed her efforts”, it continued.
The statement shared directly with our news desk via email, included a statement from a spokesperson for EZ Shipping. They had this to say on the matter:
“We have been the subject of rumour, innuendo, and reputational damage from a flawed report process where we were not asked to provide evidence before its publication. We were then attacked on the floor of the House of Assembly by members, one in particular who now pivots on his view of the work of the Auditor General when he is in the spotlight. All we ask for is for the facts to be fairly, objectively and independently assessed, which we are confident will show that we fully complied with our contractual obligations”.
Earlier this year, the Report of the Auditor General on the COVID-19 Border Security Contracts for Static Marine Platforms was released and led to widespread scrutiny of the Government of the Virgin Islands surrounding the issuance of high-valued contracts for the use of EZ Shipping Barges.
The report emerged following an audit undertaken pursuant to Recommendation B23 of the Commission of Inquiry Report.
Among the conclusions made in that report, it was said that the barges were not only ineffective for their intended purpose to the Government of the Virgin Islands but that “EZ Shipping” was paid $738,000 for a period of time after the use of the barges had already been abandoned.
The audit report also made several criticisms of the manner in which the agreement for the use of the marine static platforms between the Government and EZ Shipping came about.
EZ Shipping has now claimed to have employed the services of an independent expert forensic accountant to review the Auditor General’s report.
Efforts to obtain that document were unsuccessful.
A legal representative told 284 Media that “at present, EZ Shipping is not sharing the forensic accountant’s report”.
The company has claimed, however, that the forensic accountant found that the Auditor General’s work “failed to meet international standards and was inadequate”.