Mr Audley Shaw's Public Accountability Inspectorate (PAI) probably has value, assuming it helps the finance minister to identify, and staunch the misuse of public funds. But it would not be expected to usurp the authority of agencies such the offices of the Auditor General and the Contractor General, or parliamentary oversight bodies such as the Public Accounts Committee or the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee.

Nor do we expect it to be a political attack dog, which both Mr Shaw and Prime Minister Bruce Golding have said it is not. That assurance we want to believe.

But there is a coincidence that will possibly weigh on people's acceptance of these ministerial assurances, as well as the public's belief and confidence in the integrity of Minister Shaw's investigators, and the system, generally.

Michael Stewart, the principal of Porus High School, is the immediate past president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA). He was succeeded by Nadine Molloy, who, until her elevation, was principal of Buff Bay High School.

Neither Mr Stewart nor Ms Molloy, in the position as heads of the teachers' union, embraced, in our view, an expansive vision for the transformation of education in Jamaica. They made no signficant effort at pushing their union towards a progressive direction, although there is still hope for Ms Molloy, given her recency in office and her recent New Year's remarks.

Both, captured by the JTA, insisted on squeezing the Government for pay without an inclination to trade the fatter salary envelopes grabbed by their members for better performance or increased accountability from teachers.

Now, the schools that are, or were, recently led by these two top JTA officials have been subject to financial audits - Buff Bay by the education ministry and Porus by Mr Shaw's audit watchdogs.

The education minister, Mr Andrew Holness, says that the two audits were unrelated. In fact, he knew nothing about the one at Porus, the report of which Mr Shaw tabled this week.

Here is our surprise.

We, like most people, assumed that Mr Shaw's PAI would be engaged in large-bore operations, the big issues in public finance, rather than fiddling around high-school tuck shops, where the report Mr Shaw tabled in Parliament revealed has been its recent focus.

Micro matters

The ministerial investigators found that $1.8 million in cash from the sale of sweets, soft drinks, snacks, and so on was not accounted for during the 2008-2009 financial year. Mr Stewart and his school board said that two cashiers were fired over the incident.

There are a few other matters of concern at Porus High, such as the absence of receipts for goods and services procured, which is the kind of stuff that is usually the province of the auditor general; and there was the failure to follow procurement guidelines, which is the kind of stuff that tends to fire up the contractor general.

It is not our position that public money ought not be properly spent and accounted for. We insist on accountability.

What is surprising, though, is that the finance ministry sent out audit howitzers, the newly minted and elite PAI, on what, in the scheme of things, appears to be the kind of job for juniors. The danger here is that no one will take the PAI seriously when it has to go after the big stuff.

Mr Shaw knows what they say about perception.

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