Audit Officer's report

Reference is made to reportage concerning the Audit Officer's report on the issue of the outline permit for the development of the former Ulysses lodge.

Contrary to the impression the article seeks to give especially by the choice of headline, the Audit Office did not question the impact study waiver. This slant flies in the face of the fact that the whole process was examined by the Audit Office and in conclusion, there was only one comment on how the waiver adjudication could be made more transparent. The Audit Officer states that "...the reasons justifying the granting of the exemption from the carrying out of 'limited environment impact assessment' ...should be provided and made public"(p.9).

In the Auditor's report Mepa "...agrees that the justification why a limited EIA was not required is to be amplified in the future. In this case the justification was published as a Government notice in terms of Regulation 3(8) of the EIA regulations 2001. The question is whether it is detailed enough" (p.10), Subsequently steps were taken for this improvement to be implemented in the public notification process. With regard to the presence of a board member during a meeting related to this outline application, this was amply explained by the member himself, both to the Authority and to the Audit officer. The Audit Officer said "I have no difficulty in accepting the above explanation..."(p.11) Mepa wonders if the reportage was based on the report or on impressions given by other sources.

Editor's note:
We believe that both the news item and its headline accurately reflected the contents of the Audit Officer's report.