MERCY PLEA - PS appeals for lenience for RADA staff as auditor general stands firm on $64.7m fertiliser surcharge

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Dermon Spence on Tuesday appealed for leniency for two employees facing a $64-million surcharge over 11,121 bags of fertiliser donated by Morocco to Jamaican farmers that remain unaccounted for.

A recommendation to recover $64.7 million from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) employees hangs over them after fertiliser stocks went unaccounted for between 2019 and 2023.

Spence told the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he had advised ministry officials to conduct an audit as soon as the fertiliser arrived in the island.

“I said ‘you are going to have to account for every grain of fertiliser’,” he told the committee.

In a written response to the PAC, the agriculture ministry contended that there was no loss, as the fertiliser would have been used by legitimate farmers to aid with production.

“The ministry is not in agreement with the recommended surcharge of officers employed by RADA on the recovery of cost for fertiliser. The ministry strongly rejects that there was any loss of government assets,” the ministry stated.

According to the ministry, incomplete distribution lists from the members of parliament cannot be concluded as a loss of government assets.

But Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis stopped ministry officials in their tracks at the committee meeting.

She argued that, if the fertiliser had been distributed, the ministry was obligated to provide proof that it reached the intended beneficiaries.

Monroe Ellis said the Auditor General’s Department could not determine that the more than 11,000 bags of fertiliser were distributed, as there were no receipts to substantiate this.

14 PER CENT OF DONATION UNACCOUNTED FOR

At present, about 14 per cent of the total amount donated by the Moroccan government is yet to be accounted for. Jamaica received some 72,000 bags of fertiliser from the North African country.

Spence urged the auditor general on Tuesday to review the matter, noting that the threat of surcharge had caused anxiety for the staff members.

“I will indulge the auditor general, given all that is being explained here, to take a look back at the situation, and to understand that, in all fairness, it is a very difficult position to place the team members in when you are now creating fear and anxiety,” he said.

However, Monroe Ellis emphasised that the law requires that the receipts are kept in relation to government transactions or distribution of items. She made it clear that “word of mouth” could not satisfy the requirements of the law.

She explained that the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act places an obligation on the auditor general to ensure that there are receipts or documents to support a government transaction. In the absence of this, Monroe Ellis said, the legislation directs that the auditor general shall deem it a loss and report it as a surcharge.

The matter is now before the financial secretary, who has the power to impose the surcharge.

Spence said his ministry has responded to finance ministry questions on the matter.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com