‘No hanky panky at NYS’

Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna has dismissed claims made by her opposition counterpart Olivia Grange that the National Youth Service (NYS) was mired in corruption and desperately in need of a forensic audit.

In a belated response to the charges made by Grange during a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee in June, Hanna expressed regret that the "unfounded" allegations against NYS chairman, Maureen Webber, and others were made under the cloak of parliamentary privileges.

According to Hanna, the NYS has no contract with Development Options Ltd, a company owned by Webber, and the board has never approved any contract for execution by the company.

"There are no employees of Development Options Limited that are on the payroll of the NYS. When NYS uses independent consultants, the process of contracting is consistent with the guidelines Government of Jamaica's procurement guidelines," declared Hanna.

She said at a retreat at the start of the year, the NYS board agreed to a staff retreat and an operational plan for 2014-2015 was devised.

Following a tender process, Leahcim Semaj was contracted to provide support to the team and he did a series of interventions.

Addressing Grange's claims of 'instability' at the NYS, Hanna said there were concerns about individuals being on contract as opposed to being civil servants.

"Six of 13 field officers were uncertain about their future as the IDB funds used to support their posts had ended," noted Hanna.

She told The Sunday Gleaner that the management of the NYS, with the support of the board, placed priority on the matter and the six officers now have two-year contracts.

'a downright lie'

Another allegation by Grange that people are being forced to resign "left, right, and centre" was described by Hanna as "a downright lie".

"The data also reveals that during (Grange's) tenure there were 16 resignations and six terminations at the NYS. Under my tenure there have been nine resignations and two terminations. Furthermore, the board ensured that as a matter of priority, all six field officers who expressed uncertainty about their job security in the Semaj retreat, as a result of the IDB funding coming to an end for their posts, were all given two-year contracts."

According to Hanna, Grange overstepped the mark in her allegations.

"Parliament should only be the repository of truth and, therefore, whatever any member chooses to say in Parliament, they should be prepared to say outside publicly. I believe she should apologise to the chairman and the board of the NYS and the Parliament, or at least have the conviction to say it publicly," declared Hanna.

"The request for a forensic audit by the member of parliament is a measure that is usually employed in a case or cases of, or related to criminal proceedings. If that is the case, then it would be most appropriate for the member of parliament to communicate that information to the director of public prosecutions, the contractor general, the Jamaica Constabulary Force or the auditor general, not to call for it in the House."

The youth minister noted that appointments to the NYS board are governed by law which clearly details its make-up.

Hanna expressed confidence in both the chairman and the board of the NYS and its performance to date. She said this year the NYS will be implementing more than 12 programmes, eight of which are new with approved budgets of $322 million to impact close to 12,000 young people directly.