The following statement was released on May 28, by One Bermudra Aalliance MP Scott Pearman…
OBA Parliamentary questions have exposed the Burt Administration using taxpayer money to make considerable payments to PLP friends and family.
On the face of it, there is no legitimate justification for the Attorney General’s husband receiving $13,000 of taxpayer money each month for undisclosed consulting services.
Bermuda’s top law officer must be beyond reproach.
Minister Kathy Lynn Simmons needs to explain to the public how she considered it appropriate for her husband to be placed on the Burt Adminstration’s payroll?
What consulting services are being provided to enable Mr Simmons to receive taxpayer funds?
How was it determined that only her husband could obtain this undisclosed role?
Who took the decision to pay $13,000 a month to the Attorney General’s husband?
What role did the Attorney General have in this whole affair?
The public purse cannot and must not be used and abused by politicians for private profit.
It is seldom — if ever — appropriate for a politician to engage their family member to “consult” for the Government.
It smacks of trying to find a way to divert public funds to private use.
There better be a rock-solid reason why this family member was preferred over every other Bermudian – assuming the role even existed and was available to others, rather than specially created for her husband.
And why was this appointment kept hidden and not publicly disclosed?
The AG is in a pretty deep hole here. She has some serious explaining to do if she is to ever regain the public’s trust.
For now, Bermudians need answers.
