ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne says he has not seen “any case of corruption” that would undermine the integrity of the Governor of the St. Kitts-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Timothy Antoine, regarding the construction of a multi-million-dollar official residence for the bank’s governor.
Last week, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he would neither confirm nor deny writing to Browne suggesting that the Grenadian-born ECCB Governor, “of his motion may wish to consider whether or not his continued occupancy of his Office is tenable in all the circumstances.
“This is likely to be a painful, personal decision,” Gonsalves wrote in the Feb. 17 letter to Browne, who has since confirmed to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that he has received the correspondence.
But speaking on his weekly radio programme on Saturday, Browne said he is certain that the matter will come before the Monetary Council of the ECCB.
“What I can say, though, there’s no evidence that the Governor himself had sought to be excessive, and certainly I don’t know that I have seen any case of corruption or so that would, you know, create an issue in terms of undermining the governor’s integrity.
“Maybe, perhaps — and again, look, I feel that at this point, until we get a proper report, we may even have to set up some independent committee to look at this issue. I feel it may be a little injudicious to me to come to any conclusion at this point, other than to say that the amounts that were spent on the building has raised concerns, and many of us as Monetary Council members, are concerned,” Browne told radio listeners.
According to the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the CMC, Gonsalves wrote to the Antigua and Barbuda leader, indicating that he had become aware of the matter through his son and Finance Minister, Camillo Gonsalves, who is also a member of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
He said the finance minister had advised him “regarding the extraordinary sum of EC$22 million being expended by the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to construct an official residence for the Governor.
“This act of excessive spending is outrageous,” Gonsalves wrote in his letter, adding “It’s an absolute scandal.
“Cleary there has been an insufficient transparency by the Governor on this matter, and the oversight expected by the internal review mechanisms of the ECCB, the Board of Directors of the Bank, and the Monetary Council, has self evidently been below acceptable or prudent standards.”
The ECCB serves as a central bank for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts and Nevis, the countries which together with the British territories of Montserrat and Anguilla, form the ECCU.
Prime Minister Browne said that the Monetary Council has not met as yet and “I’m sure we’ll have to meet at some point to look at this issue.
But he acknowledged “We don’t have all of that information.
“What I will say here, is there are some governance failures there. And you know, going forward, we’re going to have to strengthen the reporting mechanisms and the accountability mechanisms, to strengthen the governance framework.
“Because at the level of the Monetary Council, I mean, I would say we were caught flat-footed in terms of the amount of money spent, but I don’t know that we can escape the responsibility. I mean, one can argue that we ought to have known,” Browne added.
He said that at the level of the directorship of the bank, he doesn’t know the extent to which they knew how much money was spent.
“But it may be a little premature for me to make any definitive statements at this time other than to say that the matter has to be dealt with and resolved, and at some point, the Monetary Council will meet and discuss this issue. And, certainly, we’ll have to keep the public informed as to how this matter is ultimately resolved,” Browne added.