Terrence Bastian, Auditor General of The Bahamas, was on Tuesday elected the first Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat Audit Committee.
In a press release, the Caricom Secretariat said the election took place at the Committee’s inaugural meeting and was held among its five members. The other members of the committee are: Dean Evanson, Director of Audit of Antigua and Barbuda; William Layne, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance of Barbados; Carol Harrison, Finance Officer of Belize; and Deodat Sharma, Auditor General of Guyana. The Secretariat established the Committee with the approval of the Community Council of Ministers.
In welcoming the Committee and its members, Caricom Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque was quoted as saying that the Audit Committee was the latest step by the Secretariat to strengthen its governance framework.
He told the Committee that the Secretariat had introduced on an incremental basis a number of measures aimed at strengthening corporate governance within the organisation. “These measures included the establishment of Internal Audit and Strategic Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation Units, Guideline and procedure manuals with respect to procurement and fraud and conflict of interest policies,” the release said.
Irwin LaRocque assured the committee that it had his full support, saying that “as Secretary-General, I cannot emphasise enough nor give greater assurance, of my total and unconditional support to and co-operation with this new feature of our corporate governance arrangements.” He added that he set great value and store by what the Committee had been established to do and its work would give him confidence that the governance systems of the Secretariat were operating properly. “I believe the output from your interaction with the Secretariat would serve as a useful barometer of the organisation’s health,” LaRocque said.
