Taint the messenger, discredit the media

Nov 23, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

It seems ludicrous, damming media reports into the scandalous 2019 fuel revelations for Region Five, before the parliamentary oversight body, could be dubbed ‘misleading reporting’ and creating an ‘illusion of a scandal’ (KN November 22), in a snipe hunt to deflect and detract from the (mis)management of this sordid (read corrupt) scandal from the regional authorities and make scapegoats of the media for its reporting of the matter.

The detractor paints a picture of ‘human error’ for the many issues raised and brought to the fore in AG’s report of the year under review.

If indeed human error was responsible, why after so many years and only now before the oversight body is this now being discovered? Surely queries from the AG on this should have been addressed and corrected in order for the final report to be presented. From all accounts, this was ignored by the regional authorities, but now it is justifiable to seek to lay the blame on the messenger for its reporting of the scandal with veiled political overtures. It is unbelievable were many instances of vehicular transactions cited, not in the Region’s inventory, that went undetected. Further, bill dates did not match or correspond to requisition order dates. All this and more is labeled “human error” and an ‘illusion of a scandal’. The labels and descriptions attributed in seeking grace in this matter are feeble and deficient.

The silent, controversial former REO, who did not appear, but suddenly chose to make an appearance at the meeting, and who claimed to have made a perfect handover to his successor, must answer for the ‘human error’. Was he called upon to account ,or is an attempt being made to shield him from this episode of his less than creditable tenure? Should the matter be referred to law enforcement?

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