Submission from Ben Roberts
This catalogs my interaction with the FCO and
its officials in regard to the matter of the Chief Auditor in
Turks & Caicos, which MPs on your Foreign Affairs Committee
questioned the FCO on. I think it is pertinent.
Chief Auditor in Turks & Caicos
Dear Ms Blacker,
Thank you for getting back to me on this issue
of the Chief Auditor that I contacted Hons David Miliband and
Meg Munn about. The way the interaction was handled tells me that
there needs to be some serious overhaul on how the British Government
and its FCO deals with Overseas Territories, of which my home
of Turks & Caicos is an entity. My emails to both individuals
was returned saying that it was sent to the wrong individual despite
the fact that the email addresses were gotten from their FCO sites.
Both, or one, of the returned emails indicated that this contact
was restricted to being a resident of that MP's constituency.
The response also stated that the emails would be discarded and
I was given an alternate email pool to send to. This is quite
disconcerting. Granted those constituents should have access to
their MP's because they are represented by them. But at the same
time another portfolio of these individuals involves overseeing
and being responsible for places like Turks & Caicos. Yet
when such a person as myself decides to contact them it is made
clear that they are inaccessible to me. This leaves a lot to be
desired. Are you telling me that under no circumstances should
I expect to interact with any of these individuals on matters
regarding my home, when their portfolio says they are responsible
for matters having to do with this location? I now understand
why there is a call for submissions by your Parliament on matters
of governance both locally and regarding oversight by Britain,
and most especially your FCO agency.
As far as local matters go, this lack of inaccessibility
exists in microcosm. Not very long ago I had some vexing problems
dealing with the local government. I contacted the Overseer and
Governor to try to resolve the problem. I made about six calls.
The Governor never got back to me. If you don't know, it is the
norm for your Governors to not respond to local concerns. This
has to change. It, like my contact with your FCO, suggests that
concerns of Dependent Territories citizens are inconsequential.
Your contact with me, and the subsequent contact by Governor Tauwhare
is appreciated as a small change in how concerns are dealt with,
despite the fact that what he had to report on this matter was
not well received. Be that as it may, I am encouraged by this
new change of responding to concerns. However, there needs to
me more of this. As you can see from his response HE Governor
Tauwhare is suggesting a discussion meeting. I applaud this and
plan to do my best to see that this happens! But there needs to
be more. We, in the OT's should be able to meet with and discuss
issues with the principals in the FCO charged with overseeing
our lives. There should be no debate on this. In fact, if it is
really progress we want, there should be some consideration for
an individual, or individuals from the OT's to sit in your Parliament
as representatives on issues related to their respective territories.
The pathetic position of Complaints Commissioner in T&C might
be such an office whose duties can entail sitting in your Parliament
on occasion, in this regard. Sending one Governor after another
who is not chosen by the people he oversees, and who does not
really represent them, is not a very progressive system in this
day and age. Anyway, as stated earlier, thank you for responding
to me and requesting a follow-up response on this issue, which
I consider very important.
Yours truly
E-MAIL TO
RICHARD TAUWHARE
Re: Chief Auditor in Turks & Caicos
Your Excellency Governor Tauwhare,
Thank you for taking the time from your schedule
to reply on this matter. I am quite displeased with the outcome.
Mr Gibbs application materials was sent sometime prior to last
year October. He was told it was received. After some time he
heard nothing and made a follow-up inquiry before the year ended
as to the status of the position and was told by someone in authority
that a suitable candidate was being sought in England. Other than
the initial call to say that his application materials had been
received, no one contacted Mr Gibbs at all. I imagine there would
have been a whittling down of the applicants in stages to a short
list of eligible candidates, like a final four interview or something.
You mean to tell me that Mr Gibbs at no time in this process qualified
for a second look in choosing the best of the best. Considering
the level of work that he does in his profession, his place of
birth, and the fact that he is quite familiar with T&C finances
from having worked at the Development Board which is now TCInvest,
it is unbelievable that we have such an outcome. No one even called
Mr Gibbs to say a selection had been made. What kind of professionalism
is this?
The applicant takes up office next month. Was
Mr Gibbs only supposed to know the status of his application and
that the position was filled when he saw or heard the individual
was in office at the job? I am quite displeased that a T&C
citizen can be handled in such a manner. Years ago, before your
term of office, the British Government commissioned something
called The Kairi Report that evaluated the elements for long term
progress and development for Turks & Caicos. Prominent was
the recommendation that T&C make a point of employing the
skills of its citizens, local and abroad. In fact at an important
seminar connected with that undertaking, Mr Gibbs was the featured
speaker. Imagine that. So you can see my reason for feeling the
way I do on this matter. This situation leaves a lot to be desired,
and as such, given the handling of this matter, I would humbly
request even at this eleventh hour that you give it a second look.
Thank you for your interest in the Turks &
Caicos Forum. I appreciate your offer of a meeting, and think
it would be a good avenue for exchange of substantive ideas between
our citizens and yourself, and others in the FCO hierarchy as
well. The group is trying to take time from our schedules to meet
among ourselves. At this meeting we will definitely discuss your
offer of meeting with you and see if our schedules can be synchronized
to do just that. I assure we would welcome such an event. Thank
you once again.
Yours truly
E-MAIL FROM
RICHARD TAUWHARE
Dear Mr Roberts,
Chief Auditor In Turks & Caicos
Thank you for this email. I have been asked
to reply.
The position of Chief Auditor has been offered
to a highly-qualified individual from St Kitts and Nevis. He has
accepted the offer and will start work in May. The application
of Mr Gibbs was carefully considered alongside those of the other
applicants but the successful candidate was judged by the selection
panel to be the best for the position.
I was very interested to hear of the Turks and
Caicos Forum and would be keen to meet with its members to hear
their concerns and ideas. If they would like a meeting, I would
be happy to set one up.
E-MAIL TO
MEG MUNN
AND DAVID
MILIBAND
Chief Auditor In Turks & Caicos
Dear Honourables David Miliband Secretary of State
for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, and Meg Munn, Parliamentary
Undersecretary
This email is being sent to you in regard to
the position of Chief Auditor of Turks & Caicos, a territory
which comes under your portfolio. As you know from your own sources,
along with your recent questioning by the Parliamentary Foreign
Affairs Committee, things have very much deteriorated in this
territory that is my home that you are charged with overseeing.
If that were not enough, the leader of the T&C government
is now facing serious allegations of impropriety and assault of
a sexual nature. But I digress. My correspondence has to do with
the position of Chief Auditor in T&C. This position has been
vacant for some time now after an expatriate completed her term
and left late last year, I believe. Before she left I am sure
a number of applications had been received for the position. I
will speak about one in particular.
Mr Alpha Gibbs, a certified Public Accountant
who is self-employed man who operates his own Accounting and Financial
management company, filled an application for the position prior
to the incumbent leaving the post. He got confirmation from the
T&C government that his information was received and was being
reviewed. This was about October or November of last year. Some
weeks later he followed up as to the status of the position. He
was told by a local government official having to do with the
matter that the position had not been filled and the job was being
advertised in Britain for prospective applicants. If that is the
case then it seems highly possible that your Foreign & Commonwealth
Office might have had, or has, something to do with that advertisement
in England. Here is what I have to say on this matter. It seems
preposterous to me that the previous holder of this position had
to be hauled halfway across the world from a British territory
to fill this post,!! and that a prospective replacement is being
sought in England when we have a qualified and capable applicant
in Mr Alpha Gibbs, a man born, raised and educated in Turks &
Caicos prior to his tertiary education.
Mr Gibbs, as stated, is a certified Public Accountant.
Before embarking on his tertiary education he was employed by
the Development Board, a quasi-government small business lending
institution. Since completing his tertiary education, Mr Gibbs
has done audits for a number of business and government financial
institutions, including the United States Treasury Department.
Now will you explain to me why a man, a Turks & Caicos Islander
of such a caliber, is being ignored for such a position while
we are hauling people from halfway across the world and beating
the bushes in England for a suitable candidate? If your office
has anything to do with filling this post you should have been
beating down this individual's door for him to take up this position
yesterday. We are in dire need of this man's talents. And if your
office does not have anything to do with this position it is such
an important facet of T&C government, in terms of transparency
and financial propriety, !! that you should make it a priority
that your Overseer in T&C, and the people he manages, give
this individual's application immediate attention. To do anything
otherwise would be a travesty, and not in the best interest of
the Turks & Caicos.
I can say what I have said about Mr Alpha Gibbs
because I know him from our early secondary school education in
Turks & Caicos. Since then our tertiary education and beyond,
has seen our lives parallel each other in our respective fields.
That being the case, I feel that I know something about his moral
principles and can attest to his academic and professional abilities.
But you do not have to take my word for it. You can contact him
or simply find his application. Thank you.
Yours truly
PS: The deterioration that has befallen Turks &
Caicos is quite appalling. A number of professional individuals,
including myself, are part of a loose-knit NGO called "Turks
& Caicos Forum". We would be most interested in being
received as a delegation in England by you and the leadership
of your Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and possibly members
of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, to discuss constructive
alternatives to this distressing situation in our home.
22 April 2008
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