Two glaring issues highlighted in the 2021 Auditor General’s Report have still not been addressed by Government, the local watchdog group Integrity Group Barbados (IGB) has noted.Chairman Andy Armstrong said neither the Auditor General’s request for more staff nor his concern about the absence of a functioning Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was mentioned in the Government’s response which was laid in Parliament last Thursday.In a telephone interview with Barbados TODAY, Armstrong pointed to Auditor General Leigh Trotman’s complaint about a lack of staff in his department, which was affecting their ability to execute their duties effectively and efficiently.However, the IGB head highlighted that Government’s 64-page response, which was prepared by Director of Finance and Economic Affairs Ian Carrington and gave detailed answers to several other issues, failed to deal with that particular concern.“We still don’t seem to have, as a country, a solution as to how we are going to get more qualified persons in the Auditor General’s department,” Armstrong said.“He did allude to the fact that it was particularly difficult to get people in management positions, so it is something that we really need to figure out – how we are going to properly resource this department.”
