Public to be briefed on Barbuda relief funds

The government is expected to release the bank statements of monies put into the Barbuda Relief Fund to rebuild the island which was destroyed by Category 5 Hurricane Irma in September.
Critics have said that the process is not transparent, and said they believe that the government could use the money for projects not intended for Barbuda.
However, the Government’s Chief of Staff Lionel “Max” Hurst says the government will go to Parliament to ensure detailed bank statements will be made available.
Hurst says however under the current circumstances, it is difficult to begin speaking about being accountable for the resources being collected.
“I don’t think anyone should claim that the resources are being misused,” he said.
“The resources that have been credited to the bank accounts will show when checks are written, whom they are written to and what they are written for,” he added.
One week after Hurricane Irma devastated Barbuda, three accounts were set up.
One at the Antigua Commercial Bank (ACB), another at the Caribbean Union Bank (CUB) and the Global Bank of Commerce (GBC).
He says as of October 15, the collections at ACB alone, exceeded three million dollars.
“We have taken the resources out of two banks and placed them into the ACB account for the purpose of easy accounting,” he said.
“We want to be able to demonstrate to the Antiguan people that every penny of the money is accounted for.”