The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Assembly plans to probe the accounts of the National Insurance Board (NIB), Committee Chairman Hubert Chipman has confirmed.
On Sunday, auditors from Grant Thornton handed over two forensic reports on NIB to Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson.
Chipman said the committee intends to view what the auditors have turned in.
The St. Anne's MP said, "Once we get the report we will turn it upside down and let the chips fall where they may."
He made the comment before it was revealed that there are actually two reports.
This committee intends to meet within the next two weeks, Chipman said.
The forensic examination took about four months with numerous delays.
Though he did not wish to speculate about the causes of the delays, Chipman said it is not abnormal for the process to take as long as it has considering the scope of the audit was widened.
"As a former auditor there are a lot of things that can cause a delay," Chipman told The Nassau Guardian. "...I understand they widened the scope as time went on, and I understand they didn't have all the information as some of it was in the Office of the Prime Minister."
Grant Thornton was contracted by the government to audit NIB's accounts after a 22-page letter written by then Chairman Gregory Moss, with serious accusation against NIB Director Algernon Cargill, was leaked last November.
Cargill was later suspended pending the outcome of the audit. He filed suit against NIB and Moss.
Chipman said the committee also intends to conduct a wide scale probe on other matters, including but not limited to, the additional $150 million borrowed by the government for this fiscal year.
The government claimed the money was needed to fulfill commitments not fully represented in the 2012/2013 budget.
He said the opposition wants to find out what transpired, adding that the government's mid-year budget statement lacked the
necessary detail to account for the variance.
"I have copies of the mid-year budget for the last few years and what [they] did was show ministry by ministry, department by department what was projected to spend at the end of the year [and] whether there would be any variances," Chipman said.
"There was nothing hidden about it. We were just given a spreadsheet, which is very difficult to analyze what was the cause of the overrun of the $150 million.
"I'm not sure what it exactly was because we don't have all the numbers. It will be quite interesting to see what has transpired.
"I have also been asked questions by St. Anne's constituents as to what it cost the Bahamian people exactly for these government delegation trips and ministers' trips abroad, and what office it has been charged to.
"We don't know. Another question we would want to know is the differential between the cost of this government's 21 Cabinet ministers in comparison to the Cabinet ministers of the Free National Movement government."
The committee will also probe the total cost of school repairs, Urban Renewal, the number of public servants hired since the 2012 general election and the cost of the UK-based gaming consultants, who were engaged by the government ahead of the gambling referendum, held on January 28.
"The public has asked a lot of questions and raised concerns about what is going on here and there with many things, and the committee will find out."
He added the committee will attempt to meet every quarter to ensure the government is transparent and accountable as it relates to public spending.
The PAC is responsible for auditing government accounts and ensuring that money designated for public spending is being properly managed. It has three opposition members and two government members.
In addition to Chipman, other PAC members are Gibson (MP for Golden Gates); Ryan Pinder (MP for Elizabeth); Peter Turnquest (MP for East Grand Bahama) and Richard Lightbourn (MP for Montagu).

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