Cabinet announces new Petrojam board

Paul Hoo, former chairman of Supreme Ventures Limited; Rosie Pilner, a former vice-president of Scotiabank; and Wayne Powell, who also served as a vice-president of Scotiabank, have been appointed to replace the three Jamaican directors who resigned from the board of the state-run oil refinery Petrojam on Monday.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday announced that the Cabinet had discussed the issues regarding Petrojam that were of public concern and directed the Cabinet secretary to task the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology to prepare a report on the operations of the refinery with specific attention to various allegations in the public domain.

"The report is to be ready for the next meeting of Cabinet, where it is expected that the permanent secretary and the senior management team of Petrojam will attend and present the report," said the OPM.

This came hours after the Jamaica Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association (JMEA) challenged the Andrew Holness administration to take strong action to clean up the mess at Petrojam, if it is serious about good governance.

Damning Disclosures

The JMEA waded into the growing controversy as it declared that what has been disclosed so far about the operations at Petrojam was damning and "would indicate a clear mismanagement with the leadership of the company that fuels Jamaica's economy".

According to the JMEA, "The Government needs to demonstrate that they are serious about good governance and that they will not tolerate the wanton waste of taxpayers' money."

The private-sector grouping pointed out that the Government has been touting fiscal management as part of Jamaica's economic resurgence and argued that this must extend to state-run entities.

With the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament putting the Petrojam matter on the front pages last week, the JMEA applauded the Wykeham McNeill-led body for its work in "bringing this serious misconduct of authority and mishandling of state resources by Petrojam to the attention of the country".

The Petrojam saga deepened on Monday with news that the Jamaican board members, led by Chairman Perceval Bahado-Singh, Richard Creary, and Harold Malcolm, had resigned.