Letter of the Day | Build trust through real-time audit of post-Melissa expenditure
Published:Monday | November 10, 2025 | 12:09 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, there have been public concerns about accountability in the spending of recovery funds. The Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal recalls how, during the COVID-19 crisis, the Ministry of Finance and the Auditor General’s Department pioneered a real-time audit model that successfully protected public resources.
When Jamaica moved in 2020 to address the economic shocks of the pandemic, the question was not only what to spend, but how to ensure that money reached the intended people without waste or corruption. Then Minister of Finance, Dr Nigel Clarke invited the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) to conduct concurrent, or “real-time”, audits of the major emergency support programme, the CARE Programme (COVID-19 allocation of resources for employees and related grants).
In crises, speed is essential and speed increases risk. Large sums must be disbursed quickly, but traditioanal audits, conducted months or years later, leave a window for duplication, mispayments, or control failures. Dr Clarke recognised this risk: massive public funds were being mobilised, citizens had heightened expectations of fairness, and the government’s credibility hinged on clean processes. By embedding audit functions while the programme was active, the Government ensured that problems were detected early and corrected immediately.
The initiative achieved three vital outcomes:
• Live monitoring of spending: The AuGD reviewed eligibility, payments, and IT systems as funds were being disbursed, identifying duplicate or erroneous applications for prompt correction.
• Rapid feedback and adjustment: With ongoing audits, the Ministry of Finance received real-time recommendations that improved data systems, eligibility checks, and transparency.
• Public confidence and transparency: The AuGD submitted its June and November 2020 reports (both available on their website) while the programme was still active, creating a transparent audit trail and signalling to citizens that the oversight mechanism was robust, proactive, and visible.
The International Budget Partnership hailed it as a good-practice model for emergency governance, while the Caribbean Policy Research Institute highlighted it in their February 2022 Follow the Money report, as an example that other small island states could emulate.
As billions are being mobilised for Hurricane Melissa recovery, it is encouraging to learn that the Auditor General will again conduct real-time audits as an essential safeguard for sound public financial management. While this represents a significant step toward transparency, it is only one mechanism in a broader system of accountability, and we look forward to learning what additional measures the Government will adopt to ensure integrity across all aspects of the recovery process.
JEANETTE CALDER
Executive Director
Jamaica Accountability
Meter Portal