The 100% Otago Regional Council-owned $534million company could be privatised, at least in part, after a report initiated during the last long-term planning process was tabled at yesterday’s council meeting.
Council corporate services general manager Nick Donnelly told councillors his team would review the report and bring it back to the council’s finance and corporate committee.
He also noted a dividend review was under way with the board of Port Otago as the council sought more of a return from its largest asset.
‘‘We might be solving a problem that we don’t have,’’ Mr Donnelly said.
An ORC spokesman said the council could supply the cost of the PricewaterhouseCoopers review by the end of this week.
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So basically a 'public owned' company had it's 'public information' reported on by PWC, to keep it in the 'public arena'. Now we're told, and not surprisingly, that maybe things aren't that transparent afterall? Nick Donnelly and his team will now come back to the table with financial information and a situational report that could well show an entirely different view of Port Otago.
So why then, did the ORC pay for a report done by PWC when they could have done the reporting themselves, and then presented their findings to the public in a transparent format before even mentioning an intention to privatise?
Lots of circles, lots of grey areas, lots of ducking and diving......creates distrust and confusion. No wonder there is so much backlash to the ORC and the DCC. Smoke and Mirrors seems to be part of the game here.
Orc need a big cash injection fast?