All Day Breakfast Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 The MEA investigation has not yet really begun and the only thing for certain is that at the moment lawyers are going to be making £loads out of it. (Many a legal fortune has been made on the back of an enguiry . . . . . . ) So, an easier, more conclusive approach to resolving the MEA scandal: 1. An off Island Police force interviews every single person who was involved in any way at all with the building of the new Power Station and Pipeline - from the tea-boy all the way up to Mr Proffitt and possibly beyond . . . 2. Ask this question "Were you aware of any activity that could possibly be described as 'back-hander', 'brown-envelope' or indeed any other sort of dubious activity". 3. Make it clear that if that person is open about his knowledge it would help in the future if they are found out to have been in any way involved in dodgy activity ie come clean, this operation is far too big to be buggaring about. 4. . . . . but if they are found to have been covering up then the consequences would be severe. 5. Open up a new prison on the Island. 6. You just might need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gonzo Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 1. An off Island Police force interviews every single person who was involved in any way at all with the building of the new Power Station and Pipeline - from the tea-boy all the way up to Mr Proffitt and possibly beyond . . . ...so you can moan about the cost when it comes up as a question in Tynwald? Sigh... Not this AGAIN... how about a nice thread on the Mount Murray inquiry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theskeat Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 1. An off Island Police force interviews every single person who was involved in any way at all with the building of the new Power Station and Pipeline - from the tea-boy all the way up to Mr Proffitt and possibly beyond . . . ...so you can moan about the cost when it comes up as a question in Tynwald? Sigh... Not this AGAIN... how about a nice thread on the Mount Murray inquiry? The Police have made some investigation, but because what has been found its going to be investigated by an off Island force. Whats going to come out wont be a shock to us, we are use to it by now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisner Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Dr G, you weren't involved in anyway - even indirectly - with this MEA thing were you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gonzo Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Hehe... I've been bored to the back teeth of the MEA thing for six months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisner Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Dr G, you weren't involved in anyw . . . ahhh forget it I've already said it. But a point to note - all those £millions - ahh . . . . forget it, it's pretty boring really isn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 The Police have made some investigation, but because what has been found its going to be investigated by an off Island force. Whats going to come out wont be a shock to us, we are use to it by now Total toss. Don't you just love informed postings. The only accurate statement in this topic I can find is: The only thing for certain is that at the moment lawyers are going to be making £loads out of it. (Many a legal fortune has been made on the back of an enguiry . . . . . . ) Papers have been served. The court's ruling on KMPG's case is slowly being prepared. It'll be in and out of the courts for years; and will cost many millions of pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 Its amazing what you can find on the internet. Mr Proffitt's presentation to the World Energy Congress in Australia ... I will bet anyone 5p that he wishes he'd never agreed to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theskeat Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 The Police have made some investigation, but because what has been found its going to be investigated by an off Island force. Whats going to come out wont be a shock to us, we are use to it by now Total toss. Don't you just love informed postings. The only accurate statement in this topic I can find is: The only thing for certain is that at the moment lawyers are going to be making £loads out of it. (Many a legal fortune has been made on the back of an enguiry . . . . . . ) Papers have been served. The court's ruling on KMPG's case is slowly being prepared. It'll be in and out of the courts for years; and will cost many millions of pounds. If thats the case then why have some of the smaller contrators that worked on the site been quized by police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 2012 this should all be paid off apparently - not counting the legal costs of course. Hardly something to be "bored to the back teeth with". This is your hard earned in taxes we're talking about here dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisner Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Mmmhh, there are a lot of worried people who would prefer to, er 'draw a line under this one, can't we just move on? It's getting boring now' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Smelly Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Who cares about it, if anyone did profit from this i am sure they are a long way from the isle of man probably on the other side of the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 and while I'm on one . . . . the MEA thing. It will cost £millions just to for Tynwald to find out if the goddamn loans were legal or not. Maybe they were maybe they weren't. THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE. The issue is what happened to all that money and how was it dissipated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Nipper, this has already been extensively looked at via the PKF report ... I declare an interest ... I spent many hours working on this document going through it forwards backwards, sideways, upside down, paragraph by paragraph, to ensure its accuracy. The money was spent on building a powerstation £90M, a gas pipeline £25M, a pressure reduction station £20M, a subsea cable with a fibre optic link £50M, and developing a business plan to exploit the fibre optics £2M (figures are approximate from memory ... can't be bothered looking them up!). Of course in hindsight and after muddying the waters you could claim in an ideal world that you could have made "this" particular decision better, or "that" one differently. But these would NOT have made a material difference to the total costs, only marginal differences. The issue is NOT that millions went missing. The issue is that millions were spent without Tynwald (and maybe government ) realizing it. This is despite the fact the MEA fully complied with the Treasury requirements to tell them about their spending. Treasury claims it never added up the figures presented to them by the MEA ... naughty Treasury ... but the MEA never told Treasury the figures needed adding up ... naughty MEA. And MCC borrowed millions from Barclays to finish doing all this once the money from the Government bond was used up ... whether this was according to statute or not and needed permission or not is the main meat of KPMG's case served on the MEA recently. The money was not dissipated or stolen. The IOM has some of the best power generation and supply assets available. The MEA took a long term view and said over the 30 to 50 years these assets will be used they will pay for themselves and provide huge benefits to the Island. Something that is undoubtedly true. The infrastructure built had all been approved by Tynwald, and with the full knowledge of Comin. Ministers inspected Pressure reduction statations and were invited to demonstrations of PLC internet technology. Were they aware how much it was all costing ... well lets see what comes out in the court case; looking at all the grubby dealings of government is usually a good spectator sport. There are lessons to be learned in this, but the idea that these lessons are best learned via multimillion pound court cases and enquires is very questionable. No matter what the court case says Tynwald will still have to act. For the Politicians to ignore the issuses and not to properly manage them would be a vast dereliction of their responsibilities. There is a lot of hot air being shouted about the MEA from people who know very little about it. If they let the noise drown out the facts of the issue it could be very serious for the Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gonzo Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 2012 this should all be paid off apparently - not counting the legal costs of course. Hardly something to be "bored to the back teeth with". This is your hard earned in taxes we're talking about here dude. It's not something I'd consider unimportant exactly, but there's hardly very much to be said about it that hasn't been said ad infinitum by MHKs, MLCs, accountants, lawyers, the police, off-Island police, and posters to forums. When/if something happens, *then* my tedium may be abated I just can't stay shocked/horrified/amazed/all of the above for very long. Yes, I'll be paying more, yes, heads should roll, yes, it gives a negative impression of the Island to anybody who (a) has heard of the IoM and (b ) keeps up to date on current affairs here. But jumping up and down on a well-worn path of irate-ity and shouting my rhetoric into the vastness of cyber-whatsit ain't getting me anywhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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