Mark Pettingill has placed pressure on the Progressive Labour Party to formally respond to the Auditor-General’s critical report.

Speaking at the House of Assembly on Friday night, the One Bermuda Alliance MP compared Heather Jacobs Matthews’s report to “a bad train wreck” and a “nonsense reality show” you couldn’t stop watching.

Released this month, the document listed assorted financial failures for the years ending March 31 2010, 2011 and 2012, during which time the PLP was in power, including the awarding of multimillion dollar contracts that were not put out to tender or payment for projects that did not comply with financial instruction.

“I sat fuming last Saturday morning,” said Mr Pettingill. “I spent half the day (reading it). It was like watching a bad trainwreck. I couldn’t take my eyes off it — it was like one of those reality shows where you say, ‘What am I doing watching this absolute nonsense?’ but you can’t turn the channel. It’s the hypocrisy that drives me nuts. It’s the reason I’ve got no hair left. Some members on that side (of the Assembly), who were in the previous government, must know what went on.”

Mr Pettingill chided Shadow Minister of Finance David Burt for his lack of a response to The Royal Gazette on the matter.

“They couldn’t find him for a comment. Why not?” he said.

“He could comment on everything else. You have two chickens crossing the road, that guy would be standing up talking about how much it costs the Government, but they couldn’t find him to comment on the Auditor-General’s report?”

Mr Pettingill was admonished by Speaker of the House Randy Horton for his stance, as Mr Horton recognised that Mr Burt’s position as head of the Public Accounts Committee rendered him unable to respond to the findings personally.

When asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Burt said: “It is not proper for me to comment on a report that has been referred to the Public Accounts Committee by the Speaker of the House.

“The PAC, as we have since I have been chair, will hold public hearings and will call those persons who were deemed to violate financial instructions to testify.

“However, the PAC can only hold hearings, we cannot discipline any public officer, as discipline is handled within the civil service.”

Elsewhere, during his allotted 30-minute speech, Mr Pettingill jokingly alluded to the six references to marijuana made in Opposition Leader Marc Bean’s Throne Speech response — as the PLP revealed plans to legalise recreational as well as medicinal cannabis.

“There’s so much marijuana in this Throne Speech, I think people want to roll it up and smoke it when they go home,” he said. “Conceptually, I support the idea of legalisation, but let’s come to reality on how Bermuda’s going to do that. It’s not a simple issue. Unless you have a really well-researched plan, it’s just sophistry.

“It sounds nice and appeals to people, but it doesn’t set a blueprint for the direction we need to move in.”