Lead Stories

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

THE EXECUTIVE of the Post and Telecommunications Department came under intense fire from members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Tuesday for a major lapse in checks and balances at the entity, that would have resulted in the destruction of usable stamps worth more than $8 million.

An audit conducted by the Auditor General's Department (AGD) revealed that the cash-deprived entity, which is subsidised by taxpayers to the tune of $1 billion annually, had made plans to discard a batch of stamps but AGD auditors inspected them and found they were in good condition.

"As a result of this audit, the Post and Telecommunications Department collected $15.1 million in stamps which were earmarked for destruction but after being inspected by us have been put back into circulation," Pamela Monroe Ellis, the auditor general, told the PAC Tuesday.

When questioned by committee members about the stamps, Postmaster General Michael Gentles said the stamps were put away for about two years to be checked but the inspection was not done.

An agitated committee chairman Dr Omar Davies castigated the postmaster general, contending that his response was disturbing.

Committee member Fitz Jackson said there was no due diligence in assessing the quality of stamps to determine whether they could be used.

Joint venture arrangement

The auditor general also raised questions about a joint venture arrangement that the Postal Corporation of Jamaica (Post Corp) entered into with a developer to build the Liguanea Post Mall at a projected cost of nearly $200 million.

PostCorp's contribution to the development was 45,000 square feet of land valued at $42 million.

It was agreed between the joint venture partners that PostCorp would receive 8,000 square feet of office space and 25 per cent of the audited net profit of the development, but not less than $7 million.

However, to date PostCorp has received only $ 1 million. Gentles told PAC members that the company had gone into liquidation.

"There is a representative from the attorney general's office who represents us in the matters of liquidation ... . We have put forward a claim not only for the outstanding $6 million, but for an additional $2.3 million used to correct defects at the facility that was given to us," he explained.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com