Troubling appointments at the former Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology

Since May, several issues have been raised about operations and appointments at what was then the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, led by Dr Andrew Wheatley.

Last week, in his first full media interview since he resigned on July 30, Wheatley expressed confidence that ongoing investigations will prove he did nothing wrong, even though he accepted that there might have been missteps by the persons in charge of the day-to-day operations of entities which were under his portfolio.

Here are some of the issues related to senior persons appointed to the entities, including Petrojam, which were under Wheatley's portfolio during his tenure.

 

Yolande Ramharrack, manager - human resource, Petrojam

 

The current human resource manager at Petrojam was hired despite not having the required master's degree for the post. She formerly served as a board director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, Petrojam's parent company, before taking up the management position.

 

Floyd Grindley - former general manager - Petrojam

 

Grindley resigned on July 10. Under his leadership, there were claims of nepotism, financial mismanagement and administrative irregularities.

 

Trevor Forrest, former chairman of Spectrum Management Authority & special adviser to Wheatley

 

Forrest resigned after The Gleaner broke the story that he had insisted that Carolyn Warren be inserted on to the shortlist of candidates for the post of manager - administration at the entity in 2016, after the application deadline despite objections from Dr David McBean, the then managing director of the entity.

 

Carolyn Warren, former managing director - National Energy Solutions Limited

 

The then managing director of NESol resigned after it was revealed that she failed to disclose multiple convictions before taking up the post. It has since been revealed that NESol engaged the services of Peak Energy Solutions Limited and paid out millions of dollars without a written contract.

 

Dr Perceval Bahado-Singh, former chairman of Petrojam

 

The then chairman of Petrojam resigned on June 18 after revelations of financial irregularities at the State-owned oil refinery. Bahado-Singh breached government policy multiple times as he was refunded for airline tickets that he bought amounting to more than US$75,000 (J$9.7 million) for 26 trips.

 

Suzette Camille Buchanan - former CEO of the Universal Service Fund (USF)

 

The USF was thrust into the public spotlight when questions were raised about operations at the agency after news emerged that Buchanan had employed her daughter as a social media agent.