Two pages from the Central Audit Committee report into the now defunct Life Sport programme were inadvertently omitted from the final report but it does not affect the findings, says the Ministry of Finance and the Economy. A press release issued last night admitted the “human lapse” was made during photo-copying and was not “deliberate” or an “insidious act of intent”.
The report was laid in Parliament on July 25 by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She referred the damning report to the Commissioner of Police, Integrity Commission, Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Public Service for immediate investigation. As a consequence, former Sport Minister Anil Roberts tendered his resignation as both a government minister and Member of Parliament for the constituency of D’Abadie/O’Meara. He has maintained his innocence and claimed the report was doctored.
The missing two pages related to a legal opinion given by the head of the legal department at the Sportt company, Lisa Solomon, concerning the $34 million contract to EBeam Interact Ltd to provide an educational component to the Life Sport programme. The release said the audit committee examined the legal opinion “when they conducted their audit, and the pages were missing only from the final package laid in Parliament.”
“The Ministry will ensure that the ‘missing pages’ are laid in the Parliament and submitted to the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Commissioner of Police and the Integrity Commission.”