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Contact:
Chris Satney
Monday, January 10, 2005 - Government has sought to regulate the
operations of companies that manage its funds and assets through a bill passed
in Parliament late last year.
The Government Corporations Bill seeks to ensure that organizations charged with
overseeing government property and associated financial resources are
accountable to Government for these assets.
Leader of Government Business, Honourable Mario Michel said while some
Government Corporations are regulated by the Act which created them, some
including the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation, Radio St. Lucia,
Computer Center Ltd, World Cup St. Lucia, among others are not: “These are all
Government Corporations which manage government funds or government property,
but they are not specifically regulated by any existing legislation. And it was
thought important Mr. Speaker, to bring them under some kind of legislative
control, legislative regulation”.
Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony said government agreed to the
decentralization of control, allowing these corporations to operate
independently, but he pointed out that they must be made accountable for the
Crown assets they supervise.
Using the case of the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation, a local company
charged with managing the Sulphur Springs, the Prime Minister said, “While the
government conceded that, it never introduced adequate mechanisms to ensure that
the Foundation itself was answerable to the public interest, that is to say, to
the Parliament of St. Lucia for the scrutiny of its activities, as well as for
the funds it has earned over the years.”
The Bill also gives the Minister of Finance the power to add or remove from the
list, companies treated by the bill as Government Corporations.
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