THE EDITOR, Sir:
We draw reference to your column under the caption 'What 'fit and proper' means', appearing in the March 24 edition of The Sunday Gleaner.
I wish to point out that the assertion that "HEART lent NetServ $22 million which was later converted into a grant", is an error in fact.
The HEART Trust/NTA did not disburse any funds to NetServ, whether as loan or grant, and the Auditor-General's Report never reported that we did. On the contrary, the Auditor-General sought to document that our input was sought by the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) to verify the quality and completion of the training to be conducted by NetServ, as a prerequisite to any conversion of the loan to a grant by the NIBJ.
This monitoring activity by the National Training Agency was still in train up to the point when NetServ went into receivership.
Again, we wish to point out that HEART Trust funds were not disbursed to NetServ. It is important that the nation's employers, whose contributions support our training and workforce development activities, are assured of this, and we would appreciate your clarification in your next article.
I am, etc.,
MARK THOMAS
6B Oxford Road
Kingston 5
