NASSAU| Former secretary to the board of directors of the Public Parks and Beaches Authority Marisol Morley remains in police custody and is expected to be charged in the Magistrate’s Court in the near future.
Morley, a diehard Free National Movement (FNM) supporter appointed to the position under the Minnis Administration, was picked up by police today for questioning.
According to sources at the government agency, Morley allegedly gained considerable wealth during Shannendon Cartwright’s tenure as Parks and Beaches Authority chairman between 2017 and 2021.
Though the board was scheduled to meet once a month during that four-year period, we’re told Morley reported to the office of the chairman daily.
Staffers claim Morley acted as if she was a full-time employee and they were happy to see the back of her following the FNM’s embarrassing defeat at the polls in the 2021 General Election.
They also alleged that Morley wielded so much power that she had a say in who received contracts from the Authority.
The award of contracts came under scrutiny last year with Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis revealing in the House of Assembly that spending at the Public Parks and Beaches Authority skyrocketed by nearly 150 percent.
In the 2021/22 fiscal year, it had an approved budget of $15.2 million. After contingencies, its total budget was around $28 million, an increase of 86 percent against budget.
“Because of new contracts issued in the months of July, August and September of this year, the projected expenditure of the Authority for this fiscal year is $37 million. That’s an increase of almost 150 percent against the budgeted amount and in dollars, it’s an increase of 22 million dollars,” Davis said in August.
