Editorial | Watching taxpayers’ money

Last week’s revelation by this newspaper that the health ministry is still to properly account for nearly a decade’s worth of expenditure of close to J$700 billion, again highlights the need for full transparency in how taxpayers’ money is spent.

This is vital not only to prevent leakages from the public purse, but to, insofar as possible, ensure that Jamaicans get the best value for their cash.

In this regard, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), which have become dozy, must stir themselves and pursue their mandates.

At the same time, the finance ministry, where it’s allowed under the law, must enforce sanctions – including surcharges – against culpable public officials.

The health ministry is not the only government MDA (ministries, departments, agencies) that has been lax in accountability for much of the J$1 trillion plus that Parliament annually votes to finance the Government. It has, however, become the poster child for errant MDAs since Accountant General Pamela Monroe Ellis’ 2021/22 report (released in 2023). That report showed that over nine fiscal years (2012/14-2021/22) the ministry failed to submit appropriations accounts for J$560 billion (since upgraded to J$690 billion), as required by the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAAA).

The health ministry now says that the turnover of staff, the passage of time and the fact that much of the information is manually stored have made it difficult to catch up on the backlog.

UPHILL TASK

While this explanation may well be true, the health ministry will have an uphill task of convincing many to change their minds of it as a bureaucracy untroubled with fiscal regulations. They are likely to recollect Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan’s appearance at a PAC hearing last year to review his ministry’s spending of J$619 million on COVID-19 activities over a five-month period in 2021. Among the auditor general’s concerns was the ministry’s use of government purchase orders as formal procurement contracts.

Responding to Ms Monroe Ellis’ complaints about breaches in procurement regulations, Dr Bryan declared her report to be “subpar” and said her “opinions or ruminations do not bind me”.

He added: “As a matter of fact, until the auditor general can provide in law what rule the compliance audit’s finding was predicated on, I have no obligation. None!”

This newspaper isn’t necessarily surprised, but is flabbergasted that the PAC hasn’t, in over a year, reconvened to follow-up on the matters that were before it.

There are many questions that arose from the COVID-19 expenditures, including whether the ministry still uses purchase orders (kind of pro forma statements of intent for small purchases) as formal procurement contracts, and if Dr Bryan’s disquiet over the legal foundations of several of the auditor general’s concerns were settled.

Moreover, if the PAC was performing its functions, taxpayers wouldn’t have been told about the health ministry’s difficulties with finalising the outstanding appropriations account at a press briefing, which, coincidentally, followed The Gleaner’s disclosure that the auditor general hadn’t yet to receive the documents.

However, it is not only on account of the health ministry that the PAC should reconvene its hearings into the auditor general’s 2022 annual report. The document included a raft of other instances of lax accounting for how government money was spent.

The agriculture ministry, for example, didn’t produce its appropriations account for 2020/21 and 2021/22, covering just shy of J$16 billion.

At the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Commerce, these reports were outstanding for nine fiscal years, from 2013/14, leaving taxpayers with a potential exposure of J$3.8 billion.

That ministry told the auditor general that its problem was staffing, including a high attrition rate and its inability to recruit accountants because of uncompetitive salaries. It expected that weakness to have been rectified with last year’s upward adjustment of public sector pay.

PARISH GOVERNMENTS

The PAC should also want to know what has happened with the five parish governments (Manchester, Portland, Clarendon, St Thomas, St James) plus the city of Portmore, which for various periods between 2010/11 and 2017/18 spent more than J$10 billion and collected J$5.6 billion in revenue without having “adequate supporting documents”.

The auditor general couldn’t in these circumstances determine if their accounts were in accordance “with applicable financial reporting frameworks”.

The financials of these municipalities received 22 disclaimer opinions, while two other parish governments had their accounts approved with “except for” qualifications.

At the time of the report efforts were said to be under way to regularise and standardise the accounting procedures of the municipal authorities. New accounting software was being acquired. After a year-and-a-half, a progress report would be timely.

It isn’t only the PAC, though, that has an oversight obligation in these matters. The PAAC monitors ongoing spending of monies voted by Parliament for MDAs. It must be more aggressive at the job.

The PAAC’s chairman, Mikael Phllips, an opposition legislator, has in the past complained of his inability to muster quorums, suggesting that government members, who are in the majority, stay away.

That just means that he has to push harder. And to be loud while doing so.