Business pressure mounts as JCC, JMEA join calls for transparency in FID appointment

The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) have joined mounting calls for the Government to explain the removal of a key law enforcement requirement from the top job at the Financial Investigations Division (FID).

The two groups are the latest to add their voices to the decision of the Office of the Services Commissions (OSC) to block release of the reason for change. The OSC claims that telling the public why the requirement was removed, and who authorised it, would breach privacy and could trigger a lawsuit.

In a statement, the JCC called for “greater transparency” from the OSC in light of its refusal to provide information and responses to questions about the selection process that led to the appointment of chartered accountant Dennis Chung as chief technical director of the FID.

“Members of the JCC, along with members of the wider public, have expressed concerns about this appointment. While we do not question Chung’s qualifications or his right to serve, our concern lies with the lack of transparency when asked about the process by which the appointment was made, and the potential implications this may have for public trust in our institutions,” the JCC said.

It added: “A critical pillar of national development is public confidence in the integrity of state institutions. Equally important is the duty of civil society to remain vigilant and ensure that these institutions continue to earn and maintain that trust. If confidence in our democratic system is to be preserved, openness and accountability are essential - particularly in matters of national significance,” the Chamber added.

“The JCC remains firmly committed to promoting transparency, accountability, and the rule of law. We therefore urge the OSC to provide clarification regarding the changes made to the job requirements and the process followed. In doing so, the OSC can help preserve the integrity of our public service and reinforce public faith in the systems that govern us.”

JMEA President Sydney Thwaites expressed a similar position.

“JMEA’s position is that there should be transparency in all aspects of public sector appointments,” said Thwaites, who spoke with The Gleaner before the JCC issued its statement. "We support the comments of Howard Mitchell and Metry Seaga.”

The JMEA and JCC interventions follow a similar stance taken by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), which said on Sunday that Jamaicans have a right to know why the long-standing law enforcement requirement was removed.

The Sunday Gleaner reported that the OSC re-advertised the FID position on January 23, 2025, removing the condition that applicants possess at least 12 years’ law enforcement experience, including five at a senior level.

That re-advertisement came two days after retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey declined the job. Bailey has since taken up duties as Commissioner of Police in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The original post was advertised in November 2024, with the law enforcement criterion in place. Chung was appointed to the post on June 2 under a two-year contract, with a basic salary of $13.9 million per annum.

Chung’s appointment has since triggered intense backlash from the parliamentary Opposition and civil society groups.

They charge that Chung is conflicted because of public comments he made raising doubts about an Integrity Commission report on its investigation into the prime minister’s finances. That report was referred to the FID last September.

The OSC has refused to disclose who authorised the change or why, citing provisions under the Access to Information Act related to personal information and breach of confidence. That defence, however, has failed to quiet critics.

“If a minimum requirement was changed for a position ... would it be reasonable, you think, that the country know what led to that change, at the very least?” PSOJ President Metry Seaga was asked in an interview.

“Yeah, I do think so, yeah. That’s more than reasonable,” he responded, noting that he supports Chung's appointment.

Seaga revealed that the PSOJ has written to the OSC requesting clarity to “remove the mystery” surrounding the process. He said the organisation supports Chung’s appointment but insists that the public is owed an explanation.

“I think it’s important that we take away the mystery around it,” Seaga said. “I think there are good reasons, [but] sometimes people are afraid to speak to the press. ... I think that they should be as transparent as possible without disrupting anybody’s privacy.”

Asked whether the secrecy could damage public confidence in the FID, Seaga responded, “Yes, absolutely.”

Howard Mitchell, a former PSOJ president and founding chairman of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, has argued for the intervention of the political directorate.

It’s the prime minister and the Cabinet to say that transparency is essential to effective management,” he said. “The conclusion you have to come to is to say that people have something to conceal, or people are playing games with the truth.”

“The political directorate of the State needs to look at this thing and say, ‘Even if it is the bureaucrats that are withholding information in an overly zealous fashion, we need to step in and encourage them to release it in our own interests, and in the interests of the wider society’.”

Danielle Archer, principal director of National Integrity Action, slammed the OSC’s refusal as a deeper symptom of governance decay.

“Access to information is not a luxury; it is a democratic right,” Archer said. “Efforts to suppress it, particularly in matters of public interest, are not isolated missteps; they are symptoms of creeping authoritarianism.”

On May 30, Finance Minister Fayval Williams insisted the recruitment process was “transparent” but offered no clarity on the dropped law enforcement requirement.

The FID, an arm of the finance ministry, investigates financial crimes such as money laundering and fraud.

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