By Tony Morrison, Staff reporterSTATISTICAL Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) employees have been indulging in the "regular practice" of charging fees to members of the public for one-off jobs, but not passing all the money on to the agency, according to an ongoing investigation by The Financial Gleaner.
The practice works as follows, STATIN sources revealed yesterday by someone requesting information that is available at STATIN but not already carried in one of the agency's periodic publications. The employee who agrees to carry out the added research tabulates a fee based on labour and time. Then, the employee does the research on regular work time, using agency resources.
The practice has been carried out in the past with the full knowledge and complicity of senior STATIN executives. The agreement was that employees doing the extra work keep 60 per cent of the negotiated fee, turning over the remaining 40 per cent to STATIN.
The Financial Gleaner understands that these fees can range from amounts less than $10,000 to as high as $100,000 per assignment.
This latest news comes a week after a detailed Financial Gleaner probe uncovered major irregularities at STATIN involving its former head Dr. Fitz-Albert Russell.
It is not clear if or how this fee-based revenue occurs on the agency's books, especially since checks with Auditor-General Adrian Strachan revealed that his department was unaware of the practice and did not uncover it the last time STATIN was examined by the Auditor General's Department.
It is also unclear if tax is paid on the extra income.
It does not appear that the system is even accepted practice, as Mr. Strachan told the Financial Gleaner yesterday that such a practice would require Ministry of Finance approval. The agency's books are not overhauled by the Auditor-General's Department each year, but subject to a "spot check" at least every two years, said Mr. Strachan.
However, STATIN is externally audited annually by chartered accountant Paul Goldson & Company. A spokesperson from the company pointed out that the fee-taking scheme would not necessarily be picked up by the auditors if it does not appear on the books. He declined to comment further due to the rules of client/accountant confidentiality.
When contacted yesterday, STATIN's internal auditor Pauline Lalasingh refused to speak to the Financial Gleaner and did not therefore answer any questions about whether her department was aware of the practice.
"STATIN has to change," charged one STATIN insider. The person added: "No one is happy with the work that comes out of STATIN"
The latest news raises further concerns about the running of the country's primary data collection agency. It also suggests that the chance of making cash on extra work means this may have been preferred to and carried out at the expense of regular duties, placing the integrity of regular agency data at risk.
Industry sources said that many persons in the agency had been quite happy with the status quo, but that a minority of concerned employees cite this fee-taking system as one of many practices at the agency that needs to be stopped in its tracks.
