The Public Accounts Committee is set to hold a public hearing tomorrow on the Port Royal Golf Course project.

The project ran up a bill of more than $24 million between 2007 and 2011, despite initially being budgeted at $4.5 million.

During tomorrow’s meeting, the PAC is expected to deliberate on the golf course renovation and facility improvement work, which was the subject of a recent special report by Auditor General Heather Matthews.

While Ms Matthews said the project should have been left in the hands of the Department of Public Works, it was delegated to the Cabinet Office from 2007 to 2010, and the Ministry of Tourism and Transport from 2010 to 2012, while Port Royal’s board of trustees managed the project.

None had the capacity for the oversight or management of such a project, Ms Matthews said, nor did financial instructions permit the management of capital development projects to be delegated.

The PAC is comprised of Members of Parliament and is authorised by the House of Assembly to closely examine and report on matters relating to the accounts, showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Legislature to meet the public expenditure of Bermuda. The committee also investigates findings reported by the Auditor General.

The hearing is scheduled to take place inside the House of Assembly library, starting at 2.30pm.