"I don't know where we are headed, but to tell you the truth I don't think it's any place good."– US voter on their up-coming mid-term elections.

The timing could not have been better, Mr. Editor – or worse, depending on your point of view, but the release of the most recent and damning report of the Auditor General was just a coincidence, honest, coming as it did at the conclusion of my four-part series on the need to overhaul our system of government.

Yet the report can hardly be written off as just another coincidence. This is not the first of its kind from this Auditor General or her predecessor. There have been a string of them, starting with the Berkeley Institute project, Bermuda Housing Corporation, Department of Tourism, Stonington Beach Hotel, Credit Cards and the Ministry of Works & Engineering. I'm sorry, not a string of them, a veritable plethora.

Let's also be clear about this: There is no blaming what's been revealed in this or any of the other reports on any global recession or the downturn in the economy.

We have been presented with evidence which at the very least suggests an extraordinarily cavalier regard for the expenditure of serious sums of money, very serious sums in fact, and in this case of other people's hard-earned money, the taxpayers' money, which people rightfully expect their Government to spend wisely, prudently, and for the benefit of the greatest number possible, not the fewest.

The Auditor General described what she found as "quite disturbing". She pointed out that when established financial instructions are not followed but "circumvented, ignored or not used on a consistent basis then the result is that Government is not managing the public resources with which it has been entrusted with appropriate due care." You don't say? She did – and any way you look at it, it's unacceptable. Period. Full stop.

Consider some of the key findings this time around with respect to the motor vehicle safety and emissions testing programme:

¦ Non-compliance with Government's own tendering policies and practices;

¦ Failure to obtain Cabinet approval prior to signing contracts, construction and operational;

¦ Failure to vet the operating agreement and related operational expenses;

¦ A project that grew threefold from an initial $5.3 million to a final $15.23 million – that's right, you read right, it grew threefold from start to finish;

¦ Insufficient documentation to support increases from $8.6 million to $14.25 million; and,

¦ Civil servants who were unable, or unwilling, or both, to stand up to Ministerial interference and actions contrary to financial instructions.

The simplest and most effective remedy is to throw out those responsible when you next get the chance. That's one option, but unfortunately elections tend to roll around only once every five years. I keep telling you that we need to do more. We need to also overhaul a system that allows this to happen in the first place, where a Cabinet collectively can turn a blind eye to what's going on, and where no one seems to be held accountable and nothing seems to happen as a result, except possibly at a Dickensian pace and long after the fact.

We need to elect people who are committed to the overhaul that is required.

I am not convinced either that the recent establishment of a new internal audit department is the answer. In the face of the Auditor General's most recent comments about the complicity of swivel servants, this move is akin to hiring more chickens to protect the chickens from foxes. What we need is a more modern, more progressive, more relevant system of governance that features some of the following:

? A stronger, more beefed-up office of Auditor General with the necessary personnel and tools to conduct forensic audits. I mean, where did all the money go? That's what inquiring minds want and need to know. Increased resources should also mean that investigations and reports are far more contemporaneous. We need an Office that is able to keep up with and on top of Government expenditure.

? A strengthened Legislature which provides a stronger check and balance on executive power i.e. Cabinet, and on the expenditure of funds.

4 A Legislature-driven committee system of which a more robust and active Public Accounts Committee would be the centrepiece, meeting weekly, or more often if required, with public hearings to bring accountability to bear, and with the necessary resources, legal and accounting, to get the job done. It is not just exposure and punishment that deters. It is also the threat of early detection and public exposure.

? Enforcement of these surcharges and penalties for non-compliance with Government's Financial Instructions to which the Auditor General makes repeated reference. This too, is what accountability means. Who will see to it that they bite – and when?

If nothing else, the dots are being connected on the need for better governance for Bermuda. Sadly, for the people of Bermuda, this recent report is not a one-off. The Auditor General is reportedly now penning yet another on the Dockyard Heritage Wharf. That was the other project which prompted the new Auditor General to qualify her first report for 2009 on the Consolidated Fund. In her own words, she found "serious internal deficiencies in the management and oversight of various capital development projects". And, people, we are talking millions and millions of dollars here.

Meanwhile, we already have a Government that has racked up a $1 billion debt for us and our children and likely their children as well – a mounting debt which shows no signs of shrinking any time soon. On the contrary. I point here to the recent hard work of fellow columnist in arms Larry Burchall. He reckons Government is taking in approximately $88 million a month in revenue but spending at a clip of $100 million a month for a monthly shortfall of $12 million or a total $144 million for the year.

If true, this does not add up to good governance. It is not good, period.

Baseball sage Yogi Berra is reported to have once famously said: "I don't know where we are going, but we are making good time." I don't think we are even making good time, Mr Editor, except maybe in the wrong direction.

Comments? Write jbarritt@ibl.bm