Civil society groups demand Health Ministry account for COVID-19 spending

 

Civil society groups National Integrity Action and the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal are calling for the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to hold the Ministry of Health to account for COVID-19 related spending.

 

The ministry was raked over the coals by the Auditor General for failures in accounting for hundreds of millions of dollars spent during the height of the pandemic.

 

The report pointed to $2 million spent on 45 televisions and 15 tablets, noting that the ministry did not provide a reason for the purchases or how the items were related to the pandemic response.

 

Additionally, the Auditor General says $124 million was paid to eight suppliers for infrastructural works with no basic contract in place nor was the Public Procurement Commission advised as is required for emergency spending.

 

A defiant Dunstan Bryan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, fielded questions at the last sitting of the PAC on April 18 about his stewardship of the finances of the ministry. He defended the ministry's handling of the COVID-19 spend.  

 

But Jeanette Calder, Executive Director of Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), has insisted that in emergency situations like the pandemic, more oversight is needed as there is potential for abuse. 

 

Ahead of the next PAC meeting on Tuesday, Ms Calder has urged the committee to continue to press the issue with the Health Ministry and not to move on to a separate report as they have suggested they will do.  

 

"There was too much left untouched in the review of the COVID expenditure audit. We believe the PAC should complete their examination and ensure that the Permanent Secretary addresses the findings before they move on. But that is really the job of the committee and the PS. We would like to see value for money and the PAC completing the review," she asserted. 

 

Ms Calder said the Permanent Secretary attempted to set the terms and conditions on which he was to be held to account which runs counter to the mandate of the Public Accounts Committee.