Unfinished business

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament is expected to meet today to examine a performance audit report of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, but anti-corruption lobby groups are calling for the committee to complete its review of the auditor general’s COVID-19 expenditure audit before it moves on to other matters.

In a joint statement released on Sunday, Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) and National Integrity Action (NIA) stressed that the PAC must ensure the health ministry gives account of the COVID-19 expenditure, and that answers are forthcoming where required.

Two weeks ago at a PAC meeting, the health ministry’s spend of more than $619 million in the COVID-19 period, up to March 2021, without questionable records and procurement management, triggered a clash between Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis and permanent secretary in the ministry Dunstan Bryan.

Bryan, in defending his stewardship of the pandemic spending, deemed the findings in the auditor general’s report as “less than useful”, saying it had no context, and demanded to know what laws had been breached.

Monroe Ellis pointed out that the audit was undertaken in May 2020, two months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Jamaica, in order to provide guidance, as well as to identify any missteps, and to give the Ministry of Health and Wellness and other ministries an opportunity to address the concerns regarding deficiencies highlighted.

The health ministry had received more than $8 billion to address the COVID-19 emergency.

The report, which was tabled in Parliament in November 2022, said there was a lack of transparency in payments to seven hotels and guest houses for quarantine accommodations. The report further said that the ministry provided evidence of a formal contract with only one facility.

Among other matters, the COVID-19 expenditure audit compliance compendium on the ministries of health and labour, and social security, revealed that six service providers were paid a total of $293 million without a formal contract.

“In the absence of formal terms and conditions the Ministry of Health and Wellness was exposed to unbudgeted liability claims and varying payment arrangements in a context where one service provider unexpectedly asked the ministry to pay the facility’s electricity bill and 90 per cent of water charges,” the report stated.

The health ministry also paid out $124 million to eight suppliers for infrastructural works done as part of response activities between January and June 2020, without contracts in place. Concerns were also raised about the transfer of another $174 million to the Ministry of Local Government, National Solid Waste Management Authority, and a non-government organisation without the requisite approval of the finance ministry.

In their joint statement JAMP and NIA said they, as well as the Auditor General’s Department, and much of the wider society acknowledged that the exigencies of fighting the pandemic placed the 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 statement read.

The bodies further argued that audit reports are not done to castigate accounting officers but rather to support their efforts to identify weaknesses and act to reduce risks that could result in the loss of vital public funds.

They claimed that while the Auditor General’s Department did its job, the manner of the permanent secretary and his responses to questions “left much to be desired”.

“The Public Accounts Committee’s examination of the report left the concerns unaddressed, limited as it was to one matter [the accommodation services provided by the hotels], yet the decision was taken to move on to a different report at the next sitting.

“JAMP and NIA call on the PAC to ensure the interests of the public are better served in its next meeting by completing their examination of the auditor general’s COVID-19 expenditure audit; securing an adequate explanation for the delays in financial reporting and a firm timeline for compliance with the law; and ensuring that Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan provides answers to the auditor general’s concerns in a manner that meets the standards of transparency, accountability and respect,” the joint statement read.