The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has announced changes following this week's revelation that several of its senior managers lack minimum qualifications.
Action will also be taken to control the company's overtime expenses.
Following a meeting Thursday involving the JUTC board and the company's management, instructions have been issued for persons without qualifications to enroll in a programme related to their area of specialisation by September.
This must be done at a recognised tertiary institution.
The board warned that if there is no progress within the timeline, it will sanction the employees.
The decision was outlined in a news release issued by the JUTC.
According to a performance audit report from the Auditor General this week, the JUTC's managing director only listed a high school diploma on file despite the job requiring a postgraduate degree and 10 years' experience at the senior level.
Similar shortcomings were highlighted for several other senior posts at the bus company.
The board has also decided that any expenditure outside of its budget must be taken to the finance committee for discussion or approval, and all overtime expenses must be sent to the human resource committee then the finance committee along with justification.
The JUTC indicated that this is in addition to changes which commenced this year.
It said for example, since March, overtime has been reduced from $25 million to $11 million last month, and the staff complement since May has been reduced from 2,252 to 1,956 this month.
Inaccurate information
Meanwhile, the JUTC has responded strongly to aspects of the Auditor General's report saying it contains inaccurate information and lacks detail about measures implemented by the company.
The JUTC has written to the Auditor General asking for a retraction.
In Thursday's news release, the JUTC acknowledged that there are several issues facing it and the problems are long-standing.
It accepted that the budget excess of $728 million for overtime is a serious matter which requires immediate attention, and the issues with over-staffing also require action.
However, it sought to explain that the management weaknesses span both the People's Nation Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administrations and the Auditor General's report does not mention several of the measures which have been implemented to solve the problems.
For example, the JUTC said it submitted documentation for more than $200 million in parts that were received, but this was not captured in the Auditor General's report.
It said the company has been struggling with a high turnover rate in the maintenance department, and a lack of continuity of policies due to the socio-political climate.
Despite this posture, the JUTC has expressed a willingness to implement some of the recommendations from the Auditor General.
The performance audit covers the period 2014 to 2019 which spans two administrations.
It highlights failures by the JUTC's board, unapproved hiring of staff above the capacity of the entity and hundreds and millions of dollars in overtime payments although the bus company was overstaffed.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
