The independent panel report on Harbour Fest confirms what has been clear since the early days of the project - that it was a good idea, motivated by the best of intentions but it was overly ambitious, badly organised and inadequately monitored. This was not the way to ensure that $100 million in public funds would be well spent.
The report, however, also sheds new light on the affair. It lays bare the full extent of the bungling and inefficiency that left the taxpayer with such a hefty price to pay.
We were led to believe the series of star-spangled concerts last autumn would be the 'festival of festivals', a 'mega event'. Certainly, the shows went down well with the 125,000 people who attended them. But viewed from the perspective of good governance, accountability and value for money, they might be better described as a comedy of errors.
The report, prepared by two respected experts, reveals that the government effectively handed the American Chamber of Commerce $100 million to organise the event without trying to critically assess the organisation's ability to do so.
This would not have been quite so bad if officials had set up a proper structure to carefully monitor the organisation of the events and the use to which public money was being put. But this was not done.
As a result, the huge undertaking was left in the hands of three members of the chamber; they simply did not have the expertise or experience required. And when things went wrong, the government either did not know until too late or was powerless to do anything about it.
There are many examples in the report of mistakes that should not have been made. The government entered into the original, legally binding, agreements without even getting the Department of Justice to take a look at the terms.
