Public Accounts Committee members heard that while the board of trustees in charge of the Port Royal Golf Course redevelopment adhered to its own financial instructions during the project, it was determined that those financial instructions were not robust enough.

The PAC met yesterday afternoon in the Senate Chamber to discuss Auditor General Heather Jacobs Matthews’s damning report, issued in October 2014, which criticised the $24.5 million project whose budget was increased by more than $10 million. The report said the project was flawed because of “lack of oversight, cost overruns and inadequate accounting”.

Members of the PAC questioned Curtis Stovell, the former controller for the Department of Tourism, and Cherie Whitter, tourism’s former permanent secretary, over the financial instructions process.

It was made clear that a quango such as the board can choose to amend the Bermuda Government’s set financial instructions but must provide any amended procedures to the Accountant General’s department.

“During the audit process, it was pointed out to the auditor that the board as a quango operated in accordance with the instructions,” Ms Whitter said. “However, the audit department was of the view that those instructions were not robust enough.”

Asked by PAC member Lovitta Foggo whether the Government had placed “all of its responsibility to the people of Bermuda into the hands of some volunteers”, Ms Whitter said: “They were professionals that work for the golf course and, in accordance with the Golf Course Consolidation Act, the minister can assign whatever policy and/or whatever projects that he saw fit. This was a project that he saw fit to assign to the board.”

Ms Whitter added that the ministry was responsible for ensuring financial instructions were followed “as it relates to disbursement and payment to the board”, but clarified that it was the board’s responsibility to ensure that its financial instructions were followed in accordance to tendering and payments etc.

She added: “Therefore, as it relates to their tendering, maybe there were some gaps in the financial instructions and the quango determined that they were not required to make certain submissions to the Government. Perhaps that is a gap which is one of the issues and recognised as one of the findings in the audit.

“Financial instructions require detailed monitoring of all projects with an annual estimate greater than $1 million, however it is not clear what detailed monitoring should encompass. I would say there was detailed monitoring of the expenses and payments associated with payment to the golf course.”

Mr Stovell said: “I agree that the ministry had all sorts of responsibility and I believe it executed those responsibilities to the best of its capability.”

Ms Foggo raised the question of whether a template could be devised to ensure that financial instructions for any entity that receives public funds are more aligned with Government’s.

Ms Whitter responded: “I can’t speak for finance but I can tell you that steps have been taken since this time to ensure that financial instructions for all quangos have been upgraded and are in accordance with, or are as closely aligned to Government’s as they possibly can be — that has happened.”

At the end of the meeting on Port Royal, David Burt, the committee chairman and Shadow Minister of Finance, asked Mr Stovell if the Ministry of Finance had moved ahead with the airport redevelopment.

“There have been no final decisions have been made as to whether to go forward with that project as of this time,” Mr Stovell said.