Approximately 49 percent of the monies paid out in the Farmers Stimulus Grant Programme which totaled more than $1.4 million was awarded to persons who were not registered in the Agriculture Database of Registered Farmers.
This is according to an audit report submitted by the Auditor General Sonia Webster in the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (COI).
She said the initial budget for the overall programme was $3.5 million, a budget that was exceeded and amounted to $5,140,000 when the audit was conducted.
The Commission’s Attorney Balal Rawat gave details on that audit report.
He said, “This is the first finding you make in relation to farmers stimulus grants and it says that 49 percent of the amount paid in farmers stimulus grants totalling $1,437,000 was awarded to persons who were not recorded in the agriculture database of registered farmers. And if we look at 16, what you explained there was that of 20th of May 2021, you say that there were 203 payments issued in farmers stimulus grants and as we said of that amount, 49 percent were paid out to persons who were not registered with the department of agriculture.”
Premier’s Office refused to provide details
Webster said the audit was fraught with many difficulties from the Office of the Premier which was very reluctant in providing requested information.
She said numerous attempts were made to the Premier’s Office to gain information on how the unregistered persons qualified for the grant award, but she did not get a response.
“The information we got from the agriculture department indicated that these persons were not registered, so the next step is to find out if they’re not registered, how did they qualify as farmers. And we asked the Premier’s Office to send us the information regarding all the farmers and fishermen and got no response. So the most we can say about those individuals is that there was no information to say that they were indeed farmers,” Webster stated.
After no information was provided from the Premier’s Officer, the Auditor General said she then had to improvise by taking steps to compare the list from the agriculture database to a Cabinet Farmer’s list.
She said that a total of $636,000 were paid out to persons on the Cabinet Farmers list and of that sum, $154,500 went to individuals who did not appear on the agriculture database list.
She however noted that it was possible for some of these unregistered farmers to have submitted affidavits to the Office of the Premier, as it was a requirement for non registered farmers.
164 additional payments made
Meanwhile, attorney Rawat also revealed within the audit, that some 164 other payments excluding the Cabinet Farmer list payments, were made to these same individuals which totaled more than $2 million.
He said, “You said similarly, 57 percent of other persons who received farming grants were not listed in the Agriculture Database of Registered Farmers. So in addition to the payments made to the individuals on the Cabinet list there were 164 other payments made in stimulus grants to these people and that totaled $2,286,000, of which I understand in paragraph 23, $1,282,500 went to people who were not registered.”
Investigations found grants were inflated by Premier’s Office
According to the Auditor General, an investigation was conducted among a group of farmers 70 where it was found that they had initially collectively requested for $300,000. She said that the requested sum was inflated by the Premier’s Office and the farmers received in excess of $1 million.
Webster said the investigations found a high consistency of no accountability within the stimulus programme.