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Prospect of a fourth qualified audit is labelled ‘disgusting’ by the BDA

Opposition members said the prospect of a fourth qualified audit should alarm the country.Last week Auditor General Heather Matthews gave a qualified audit on the Government’s 2009/2010 Consolidated Fund. It was the third qualified opinion in a row.It means Ms Matthews is not satisfied that Government’s financial statements fairly reflect its financial positionThis week she said concerns had been raised about internal control over the management of various development projects.She added that without the benefit of an independent professional valuation on Government assets she could not determine the accuracy of their worth.She said if things had not changed Government could receive another qualified audit for the fiscal year 2010/2011, which end on March 31 this year.Yesterday Bermuda Democratic Alliance spokesman for finance Michael Fahy said: “Frankly, it is bloody disgusting.“To have a potential fourth qualified audit should be the biggest warning flag to our country that all is not well.“People do not seem to understand the seriousness and impact of this.“We have the Minister of Finance, who is now the Premier, overseeing this mess and has pretty much remained silent.“It is simply poor leadership.”Ms Matthews told The Royal Gazette an independent valuer would be assessing the worth of Government’s large construction projects to determine their worth.Yesterday, Mr Fahy said that if assets were devalued as a result of a professional valuation the Government’s books could be worse.“It would be the same as someone building a house and saying ‘it is worth $1 million’, but then a professional valuation is done and the house is actually worth $500,000,” he said. “That means the person is half a million poorer than they thought they were.”He said, in his opinion, the Government’s comments that Bermuda is still highly regarded by international rating agencies was not necessarily an accurate reflection of the current financial state of the Island.“In my opinion, don’t put too much stock on what the rating agencies say,” he claimed. “These are the same companies that made some serious bad calls two years ago internationally.”As the US recession began some companies that received top marks from rating agencies for financial stability went bankrupt.United Bermuda Party MP Bob Richards said: “Another qualified audit would certainly not be a good thing but I am not surprised.”