THE JAMAICA Tourist Board (JTB) has accepted the resignations of two senior officials and fired another following allegations levelled against the three New York-based employees.
Deputy Director of Tourism for the Americas Noel Mignott and Accountant and Administrator in the New York office Yvonne Sawyers both tendered resignations prior to an emergency Board meeting on Sunday. Advertising Relations Manager in the New York office has been fired after a Board decision "based on a loss of confidence in her judgement as a senior officer", according to a release issued by the JTB this week. Her termination of employment is immediate.
No details of the investigations into the allegations of impropriety at the New York office have yet been made public and a comment from a Ministry of Tourism or JTB official could not be obtained yesterday.
However, despite the lack of details the JTB stated in the release that it "wishes to reiterate its commitment to a policy of transparency in the conduct of its operations and to ensuring the greatest professionalism and effectiveness in its management systems and procedures".
The Minister of Tourism and Sport, Portia Simpson Miller ordered the audit at the New York office after allegations were made against senior officials. One of the allegations was that senior officials were using JTB funds to assist with the campaign of a United States politician.
