MUSICAL CHAIRS

Dean-Roy Bernard, who scored a March court victory against the Holness administration, says when he left his office at the finance ministry about 5 in the afternoon on Tuesday, he had not received any correspondence that he was assigned to a new ministry.

His response comes against the background of an announcement from Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke in Parliament on Tuesday that Bernard will be assigned to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, effective today, as supernumerary permanent secretary (PS).

In a written response to a Gleaner query yesterday, Bernard said: “No meeting or discussion has been had with me as it relates to any reassignment since the order of the court.”

The position assigned to Bernard was created under the Civil Service Establishment General Order 2023, which was approved by the Lower House on Tuesday.

However, in his new position, Bernard will not be the accounting officer at the ministry. The current PS in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is Denzil Thorpe, who is the accounting officer.

Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson cautioned the Government against creating a structure that was “confusing and likely to cause duplication of roles”.

Robinson argued that the supernumerary PS could not escape a reporting relationship with the PS, who is the accounting officer.

“There is no way that this person can be undertaking activities on behalf of the ministry, dealing with projects that involve government expenditure, without there being some reporting relationship with the accounting officer,” Robinson stressed.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

However, Clarke said that the supernumerary PS will have very specific responsibilities in the area of culture, entertainment and the commemorative legacy projects, which are distinct from the gender and sports elements of the ministry.

Robinson asked Clarke why Bernard was not placed at the education ministry, where he was appointed as PS in November 2016 until he was sidelined in February 2019.

Clarke said that Bernard could have been sent back to the education ministry, but noted that the Government made a decision that was in the best interest of the people.

He said that the sitting acting PS in the Ministry of Education was “fairly advanced” in the implementation of a number of policies and programmes that are of priority to the Government and the people of Jamaica.

Clarke said that a disruption in the administrative leadership at this time in the education ministry would not be in the public interest.

He said that Bernard would report to the minister.

The finance minister said that Bernard was being reassigned in keeping with the Supreme Court ruling in March that his reassignment in February 2019 was unconstitutional.

The court ruled that he should be reassigned to a PS position within three months with that window closing today.

editorial@gleanerjm.com