BURDEN OF PROOF
PAC awaits evidence FinSec could penalise Bryan; watchdogs insist official should provide fulsome answers to concerns
A finance ministry representative is expected today to produce evidence to support his recent claim that the financial secretary could sanction a permanent secretary (PS) for failing to submit annual reports on time to the minister and the Auditor General’s Department.
The claim was made by Barrington Thomas, head of the Financial Systems Unit at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, at a recent meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The PS in the Ministry of Health & Wellness, Dunstan Bryan, challenged the claim, asking Thomas to present evidence from the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act to support it.
In her annual report to Parliament, Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis flagged a nine-year backlog of appropriation accounts that the health ministry had not submitted to the minister and auditor general, covering the period 2013-2014 to 2021-2022.
USE OF $560 BILLION
She said that the failure by the ministry to submit the appropriation accounts had denied Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and Jamaicans the opportunity to assess the health ministry’s stewardship over the use of the $560 billion in public resources allocated to the ministry over the nine-year period.
Bryan said he was concerned that the Ministry of Finance would suggest that the financial secretary has the ability to impose disciplinary action outside of surcharge on a PS.
Responding to a query from shadow minister of health, Dr Morais Guy, at the PAC meeting two weeks ago, Thomas reported that disciplinary actions are set out in the Financial Instructions.
“It outlines the responsibility of a permanent secretary to ensure that (annual) reports are submitted on a timely basis as provided for in the law,” he said.
Thomas told the committee that the disciplinary action “goes as far as the shifting of the accountable officer to another ministry if it is deemed that the portfolio is not being managed accordingly”.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) and the National Integrity Action (NIA) have called on the PAC to complete its review of the auditor general’s COVID-19 expenditure audit and ensure that answers are forthcoming where required.
In a joint news release, JAMP and the NIA agreed with the auditor general that the exigencies of fighting the pandemic placed the health ministry under the kind of strain that would necessitate some suspension of normal procedures and protocols.
“These are circumstances that heighten risks for costly errors and even blatant abuse. Oversight is wise in order to meet the challenges and steward the available resources as best as possible,” the anti-corruption watchdogs observed.
REDUCE RISKS
They also argue that audit reports are not done to castigate permanent secretaries, but to support their efforts to identify weaknesses and act to reduce risks that could result in the loss of vital public funds.
JAMP and the NIA reminded Jamaicans that the audit showed that the health ministry could not say how many rooms were utilised for the $693 million spent to quarantine Jamaicans.
The ministry also transferred $20 million to a non-government organisation that spent $14 million on activities that were not related to the COVID-19 emergency.
JAMP and the NIA also pointed out that the ministry received corporate donations and transferred $50 million to Health for Life and Wellness Foundation (an arm of the ministry) without reporting the donation or the transfer to the Ministry of Finance.
Further, the health ministry, among other things, spent $2 million on 45 televisions and 15 tablets and did not provide the auditor general with a reason for the purchases or how the items were related to the pandemic response.
“The manner of the permanent secretary and his responses to questions left much to be desired,” the anti-corruption watchdogs stated.
They are of the view that the PAC’s examination of the report left a number of concerns unaddressed, yet the decision was taken to move on to a different report at today’s sitting.
JAMP and the NIA insist that the PS “provides answers to the auditor general’s concerns in a manner that meets the standards of transparency, accountability and respect”.