‘Foolhardy’

Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson has criticised Education Minister Fayval Williams’ decision to allow the board of Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) to examine the findings of a performance audit that revealed its own serious breaches of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act.

In a Gleaner interview on Wednesday, Robinson pointed to the possibility that carryover members may have been implicated in the alleged breaches unearthed by the auditor general’s investigation.

“I don’t see how you can effectively do that. It requires independence, and frankly, I think it is foolhardy for any minister to expect that a board is going to come back with adverse findings against people who may still be on the board,” he said.

At least five of the current board members of NPL were part of the previous board, which Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis, in an audit tabled in September, said presided over the payment of $143 million to companies and individuals connected to board members and management staff to provide transportation, repairs and maintenance, sanitation, and other services.

But Robinson said that even with a new chairman and additional members, those previously appointed to the old board carry a cloud of suspicion over them.

“Certainly the carryover members, even if by want of error of omission or not knowing, they still have to bear some responsibility for what would have taken place while they were on the board ... ,” said Robinson.

“While I wouldn’t say the entire board must go, I would have question marks about the members who were on the previous board remaining and serving in the same capacity.”

Robinson’s comments align with criticism he made in Parliament on Tuesday when he questioned the rationale of Transport Minister Robert Montague ordering the boards of the Airports Authority of Jamaica and the Norman Manley International Airport Limited to investigate irregularities that occurred under their oversight.

“You are asking Caesar to investigate Caesar. It can’t be right,” said Robinson.

Both boards have been dissolved.

Williams told Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing that she expects a report from the current board in a matter of days.

“I’ve asked the board to go through the report and come back to me. They promised a report by next week, and at that time, I will know what decisions should be taken,” the minister said.

The Monroe Ellis performance audit, which spans 2015 to 2021, covered two boards chaired by the People’s National Party-appointed James Rawle, who served up to 2016, and Ewart Gilzean, who chaired up to December 2020.

The report said Gilzean ignored fiduciary responsibility and duty of care during his tenure.

It also said that NPL paid a distribution company $69.6 million, between November 2010 and January 2021, to provide transportation and haulage services.

The auditor general said that the investigation also revealed that the registered owner of three trucks used by the distribution company was an investment company of which Gilzean is a director and shareholder.

A day after the report was released, Williams, during a September 22 post-Cabinet press briefing, said the findings may require further investigations by other constituted authorities empowered to take legal action.

She also said that the new board led by Dr Aundre Franklin was put in place in December 2020 after several breaches had been discovered.

Williams previously stated that she supported the findings of the auditor general’s report and saw it as a powerful tool for the reform of not just NPL, but as a guide to the proper management of entities that call on the national Budget and expend taxpayers’ money.

“Let the chips fall where they may,” she had said with regard to the outcome of a likely investigation.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com