The Auditor General announced today she is investigating the cruise ship pier in Dockyard as well as the TCD Emissions and Safety Testing Facilities.

Last month Auditor General Heather Jacobs Matthews gave a qualified audit of the 2008/2009 Consolidated Fund and stated she was unable to give a clean audit opinion because of “serious internal control deficiencies identified in the management of various capital development projects which carried a book value of $90 million at March 31, 2009”.

She also questioned the “appropriateness of certain transactions and the underlying value of the assets” at the time.

Today, Mrs. Jacobs Matthews announced that she and her staff are currently conducting audits of the cruise ship pier in Dockyard as well as the TCD Emissions and Safety Testing Facilities.

“I will be issuing Special Reports on these projects to the House of Assembly as soon as our audit work is completed,” she said.

The Bermuda Government’s 2008/2009 Consolidated Fund financial statements and the Auditor General’s report are now available on the Accountant General’s website www.acg.gov.bm under the resources section.

Mrs. Jacobs Matthews added: “The public is advised that the Consolidated Fund financial statements cover only the financial results and position of Government ministries and departments, the House of Assembly, the Senate and the courts.

“They do not include the financial results or the financial position of other government-controlled organisations such as the Bermuda Hospitals Board, the Bermuda Housing Corporation and the Bermuda College.”

Because of this Consolidated Fund statements do not show the overall financial results or financial position of the Government of Bermuda as a whole.

* Read the full story tomorrow in The Royal Gazette