Deficiencies highlighted in the latest Public Accounts Committee report are years old and already being tackled by Government, Premier Paula Cox has said.Ms Cox responded to concerns raised by the report, tabled Friday in the House of Assembly, on both the Department of Tourism (BDOT) and Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC).The PAC concluded last year that BDOT’s contract with the advertising agency GlobalHue had not followed Financial Instructions.In its latest report, the PAC said it had also heard from the BDOT’s former Director of Sales and Marketing for North America, who told them that GlobalHue “tried to destroy” his career when he acted on their failure to supply proper invoices.Ms Cox pointed out that the incident in question occurred in 2008.The PAC reported also that its investigation into the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the BLDC caused the committee to question whether they were acting “honestly and in good faith”. Those incidents took place in 2010.Ms Cox responded: “The reality is that very often Government officials or boards of public sector entities — who have the fiduciary responsibility for their own accounts — have taken action already to address apparent weaknesses or to make enhancements to financial systems and controls. Therefore it is important to note the changes and corrective steps taken to address any deficiencies noted in the recent PAC Report.”The BDOT issue, she continued, was in the Auditor General’s Special Report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.“Since this time the Department of Tourism has reviewed the initial Report of the Public Accounts Committee on this matter and have submitted their replies to the Ministry of Finance, which were included in the Minister of Finance’s formal response to this PAC Report. This report was tabled in the Legislature in 2010.”She highlighted achievements across the public sector to “significantly enhance procurement”.“The Office of Project Management and Procurement (OPMP) was established in 2011 to act as the Government’s centre of excellence for procurement and project management related matters.“From the appointment of the Interim Director in June 2011, the office has undergone a complete restructure, designed to become the Government’s centre of excellence for all project and procurement related matters.”All contract awards must be approved by the OPMP before heading to Cabinet.Ms Cox said that, as a result, “I can confirm that the provision of all tourism advertising by the Department of Tourism (BDOT) have been procured in line with the standards required by the OPMP and Financial Instructions”.The Premier also said that draft Financial Instructions and a Procurement Code of Practice are nearing completion, and that public authorities and accounting officers will get trained once the new regulations are gazetted.Ms Cox also pointed out the introduction of “whistle blower” legislation since the events of the PAC report.She also said a letter had been sent in June to all civil servants, underscoring their role as “gatekeepers for good governance”.She said the PAC’s investigation of the BLDC followed on “actions that I took in my capacity as Minister of Finance when these same matters were brought to my attention in December 2010”.Ms Cox said KPMG accountants had been commissioned to review the BLDC — and that, as a consequence, “a special meeting of BLDC was convened in May 2011 where the old directors were replaced by a new Board of Directors”.At the same time, responsibility for the company was shifted from “the then Minister of Public Works to the Minister of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy”.She said outstanding items were marked for “an aggressive agenda for action”, and the BLDC’s new Board committed to “a new direction”.Ms Cox she took her responsibility as Minister of Finance “very seriously” and had committed to improving financial management across Government, as well as the framework of governance.“I look forward to responding to the latest report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Public Accounts as soon as possible,” she said.