Businessman Ewart Gilzean lawyers up on NPL audit scandal
Published:Tuesday | October 5, 2021 | 3:23 PM
Businessman Ewart Gilzean says his lawyers have advised him against speaking on a damning audit that flagged his role in questionable actions at a state company that feeds poor children.
And Education Minister Fayval Williams is also yet to indicate whether she retains confidence in current board members of Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) who served on the previous board that has been implicated in the audit.
“I'm going to be guided by my lawyer in this matter because when you're involved these matters …sometimes you're not in control of your emotions and I don't want to say or do anything against the wishes of the lawyers,” Gilzean said.
The auditor general's report covered the period 2015-2021, but all its major findings relate to the period 2017-2020 when Gilzean chaired the board of NPL.
He previously served from 2007-2013.
NPL is based in the education ministry.
Among revelations was the payment of $143 million to companies and individuals connected to board members and management staff to provide transportation, repairs, maintenance, and other services.
READ: NPL stayed bloated after meals slashed
Gilzean is currently chairman of the National Works Agency Advisory Board that falls under the prime minister-headed Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.
He is also on the board of the Rural Water Supply Limited and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, agencies that report to Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie and Prime Minister Andrew Holness respectively.
Asked about his status on those boards, Gilzean said he would not comment.
The new NPL board was appointed in December 2020 and is chaired by Dr Aundre Franklin.
That new board includes at least five carryovers from the Gilzean period – the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union's Alden Brown, who headed the HR committee; entrepreneur Dorothy Finlayson, who led the internal audit committee; health coach Natalie Murray; researcher Vicki Hanson; and Donovan Samuels, the Tivoli Gardens councillor.
The Gleaner asked the education minister on September 26 to indicate whether she was confident in the status of the five board members in light of the audit findings.
Williams was also asked whether she had identified the current board member whom the auditor general said was the spouse of a shareholder and director of a company that was paid $13.9m for janitorial services up to April this year.
There's been no response so far from Williams.
At a press briefing following the release of the audit in the Parliament, the education minister said the Government “supports” the findings.
The auditor general said the previous board “provided minimal oversight of NPL's strategic and risk management processes as there was no evidence that NPL's strategic plans were reviewed”.
The report concluded that the board “failed in oversight responsibility” and also raised questions about how the education ministry continued to give more money to NPL although demands for its baked and milk-based products fell significantly.
Two of the former NPL board members who served with Gilzean are currently members of parliament – Robert Miller and Krystal Lee, both from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
Councillor for the Mona division, Andrew Bellamy, is a former director.
Key audit findings:
* NPL paid a distribution company $69.6 million, between November 2010 and January 2021, to provide transportation and haulage services.
* The registered owner of three trucks used was an investment company, of which Gilzean is a director and shareholder.
* Payments to the distribution company stopped in 2013 when Gilzean's first tenure (2007-2013) ended; restarted in 2017.
* The distribution company received delivery routes with the highest rates and was the only haulage contractor assigned to perform shuttle services, resulting from the decision to centralise the distribution of meals to schools from the Kingston plant.
* Risk of conflict of interest increased as Gilzean was involved in the decision to centralise, which ended up being more costly … “demonstrating that the former chairman ignored the principles of fiduciary responsibility and duty of care”.
* Former chairman's private business had the same address as the supplier of repairs and maintenance services that received $48 million between August 2018 and November 2020.
* Gilzean noted as employer of an individual who was paid $7.3 million to record minutes of board meetings between April 2017 and February 2021
* Gilzean employed an individual who was engaged to record minutes of board, sub-committee meetings. Paid $7.3m for April 2017-February 2021
* A former chief executive officer is the director and shareholder of printing and office supplies company that received $4.2m (August 2010-November 2020).
*Gilzean is a director/shareholder in at least three investment-related companies, according to Companies Office of Jamaica records:
Money Traders & Investment Limited that was incorporated in March 1995 and whose core activity is rental services; Bramking Investments Limited, whose core activity is investments with an incorporation date of December 2003 and Tuscany Investments Limited, a construction company that was incorporated in May 2019.
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