THE HOUSE Watchdog Committee has called for an urgent meeting to discuss the reasons behind a $20 million payment made by the previous government to the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), which according to its chairman has “disappeared into thin air”.
According to Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkadji, who yesterday presented the Committee with her 2008 report for the Commerce Ministry, the government has so far paid US$19,898,413 as part of an agreement with the HSPH to create the Cyprus International Institute for the Environment and Public Health. The agreement was signed in 2004 and amounts to a total of US$34,096,717.
However, Yiorkadji said that there have been absolutely no checks or audits to see how this money was used.
“It was noted that there continues to be no checking system to monitor the implementation of this signed agreement,” said Yiorkadji. “Taking into consideration the size of the amounts, as well as the fact that five years have elapsed since the agreement was signed. My service has suggested the adoption of a periodic evaluation mechanism to examine the effectiveness of this agreement.”
She added that the ministers of Commerce and Education were asked to present the Cabinet with an investigation into the matter and in 2008, they presented the Council of Ministers with a letter saying they felt the agreement was far from beneficial for the Republic.
According to the two ministers, one of the main reasons for their conclusion was the fact that the amount was exceptionally high and was basically deemed a “gift” to Harvard, in exchange for its technical advice and the use of its name.
Seeing how the matter implicates the Education Ministry as well as the Commerce Ministry, the Watchdog Committee yesterday announced it would re-convene to discuss the specific matter in the presence of both ministries.
“We are faced with yet another scandal, which implicates the Communications and Education ministries,” said Committee Chairman George Georgiou of DISY after yesterday’s session. “It seems $20 million has disappeared into thin air, without anyone knowing why this gift was given to Harvard; without knowing what was given back, apart from the name.”
He said the matter would be examined in depth in a future meeting.
“Indeed some questions have been raised,” said Aristos Aristotelous of AKEL. “We are preoccupied; there are suspicions and numerous questions that need to be answered. We are expecting the relevant authorities to offer explanations and give us all the data. But there is no need to rush into accusations without being certain about what happened.”
Asked to comment on the matter, Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides said: “I would like to thank the Auditor-general for her report as it underlines the problems in our ministry and helps us resolve them.”
