PAAC SHUTDOWN LOOMS

The Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of Parliament, which critically examines the Government’s current account and scrutinizes the operations of its agencies, may have held its last meeting under Chairman Mikael Phillips, who has threatened to shut down the committee if government members continue to ignore requests for sittings.

In keeping with a tradition established by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding in 2007, the PAAC is chaired by an opposition member.

Since 2020 and up to July this year, it met 38 times, at least nine of which were mandatory sittings to comb through Budgets and Supplementary Estimates.

Sitting records show that spending by the Portia Simpson Miller administration of 2012 to 2016 was the most scrutinised since 2007. Chaired then by Edmund Bartlett, the committee held 101 meetings over the four-year period, with an average of 25 meetings per year.

The then 17-member PAAC, after the membership was increased from 13 under Simpson Miller, had 11 government members and six opposition members.

It now has 14 members, with 11 government and three opposition representatives.

During the chairmanship of Dr Wykeham McNeill (2007-2011) and (2016-2020), an identical number of sittings, 86, were held over both terms.

Phillips, the current chair, is lamenting that the current government members of the PAAC have “found all manner of reasons” not to attend meetings, resulting in a crippling of the committee due to a lack of quorum.

“There appears to be a deliberate attempt to undermine one of the critical institutions of democracy,” a frustrated Phillips told The Sunday Gleaner last week. “I can only conclude that this is a Government that will hide its eyeteeth from being examined even in the face of terrible pain.”

‘ZERO CARE FOR TRANSPARENCY’

He said that for nearly a year, he has been trying to discuss matters relating to education without success. He also pointed to several multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects being undertaken, noting that no one is the wiser on whether the public is getting value for money or whether there is need for more funding, given the scope of work.

“They care zero about transparency and accountability despite all the talk. The only time when everybody is available for PAAC meetings, even from the night before, is when the Budget is tabled and it must be examined, or when the Supplementary Estimates are to be examined for approval,” Phillips said.

A canvass of members is done prior to the holding of the meeting to determine availability.

“Let me place on record one name immediately. Government member Tova Hamilton has never turned down an opportunity to avail herself for the meetings. She is on the pulse, is seized of the issues, and asks questions where things are not making sense,” Phillips said.

He said that he has brought the issue to the attention of the leader of government business in the Lower House, Edmund Bartlett.

“I have told Bartlett that if people are only making themselves available when it suits them, then, hear me, I will not be party to any of that and I will shut down the committee. I will hold no meetings to examine and approve another Budget or Supplementary Estimate. They can have it by themselves and go back to the age of no transparency, which is what they have wanted all along,” Phillips fumed.

At a virtual meeting held May 31, 2023, only four members were present, including Phillips and Hamilton. The others were Tamika Davis and Dwight Sibblies.

Only two of the 11 absentees – Juliet Holness and Fitz Jackson – tendered an apology.

EXPOSED SEVERAL SCANDALS

Under McNeill, there was extensive rigour by the PAAC, which led to the exposure of questionable spending and waste at several government ministries.

The PAAC was key to exposing the sordid affairs at Petrojam, which was losing billions of dollars as identified by a special audit by the Auditor General’s Department. The report found a litany of breaches and slammed the Dr Perceval Bahado-Singh-led board at the time, stating that it was “deficient in its oversight and monitoring of Petrojam’s operations”.

Granular details revealed that Human Resource Manager Roselee Scott-Heron was dismissed and replaced by Yolande Ramharrack, who was hired without the required academic qualifications and paid millions more in salary and benefits.

In a deal with Ramharrack, who was also facing at least 19 disciplinary charges, Petrojam agreed to pay some $13.3 million to part ways.

The Industrial Disputes Tribunal also awarded Scott-Heron the equivalent of one year’s salary – $9.8 million – for unjustifiable dismissal.

The PAAC also exposed the police used car scandal, where some $400 million was paid upfront to secure 200 vehicles in a botched deal between the Ministry of National Security and O’ Brien’s International Car Sales and Rentals.

Also falling under its microscope were issues at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) and alleged links to the Ministry of Education and some of its functionaries, including former Minister Ruel Reid.

BRUCE GOLDING CREDITED

It was under McNeill’s chairmanship that the first stand-off between the PAAC and the Government occurred. A consultant – a position paid for by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – was added to bolster the committee’s efficiency. Financial analyst Megan Deane was appointed to the post and her first report on the Budget in 2011 was met with fire from government members, who refused to sign the document, which they deemed critical of the administration.

McNeill refused to send the report to the House without the signature of all PAAC members and it resulted in the Government being unable to begin the Budget debate.

It took the intervention of Prime Minister Golding for the matter to be resolved.

“The major change to the PAAC was that for the first time, it started work, being chaired by the Opposition, and it was opened to the media. Bruce Golding did that and he must be credited for that all the time,” McNeill recalled last week. “We started to meet almost every week, at worst every other week.”

‘IT IS A DISGRACE’

Although no longer a legislator, he lamented the current state of affairs.

“Now there is no meeting time, no one is available and what is the result? They have neutered oversight of the Parliament. The result is a free-for-all. It is a disgrace ... . It is the greatest step backward that we have made in recent times,” the former chairman said.

McNeill said that a “crisis of democracy” has now resulted as the superproportional majority is being used to object to ministries and agencies being called to answer before the committee. Additionally, the time previously blocked for the meetings has been taken, and the committee must jostle to find available dates or times for meetings.

He is supporting Phillips’ position to shut down the committee if nothing changes.

“Absolutely. I applaud the position. That’s why we put in an opposition chairman. In a country where trust levels are so low and polls have shown that politicians are the leading suspects in corruption, the committee’s efforts to bring light to what is happening with their Government are being [hindered]. Somebody has to be able to say, ‘What’s happening at Cornwall Regional Hospital?’ ‘How much is being spent on the roads in St Thomas? Is it value for money?’ You can call them [agencies and ministries] any time, because that is what a PAAC does,” he noted.

BURDEN ON THE CHAIRMAN

McNeill placed the looming crisis at the feet of Bartlett and Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner last week, Bartlett pushed back, saying, “The frequency of the meetings is a function of the committee itself.”

He acknowledged that the PAAC is there to monitor the performance of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), with more than 200 entities.

“Scheduling after these MDAs provide their business plans, which usually accompany the appropriations discussions and Parliament, is what I would normally do in my time,” Bartlett, the leader of government business in the House and former PAAC chairman, said.

He added that all sessional committees of Parliament are guided by referrals, “and in the instance of the PAAC, it would be referrals by the auditor general, through the Parliament”.

The PAAC is mandated to operate independently of the auditor general.

“In the case of the PAAC, it has its own agenda as it can summon any MDA, as it may be incidences that occur during the course of the year that may attract scrutiny for better particulars. Routinely, it would establish a schedule of MDAs to appear before it on a monthly basis,” Bartlett explained.

It is the gravamen of Phillips’ frustration.

“Once or twice, he (Phillips) has mentioned the difficulties overall in regard to convening meetings. But each chairman operates differently. The methodology that I employed is pulling them all together and having retreats and so on. You then work together on a schedule that everybody understands ahead of the game,” Bartlett told The Sunday Gleaner.

He said committee secretaries must rally members for attendance, and scheduling should not be ad hoc, while allowances are made for bodies which must appear immediately.

“But there has to be some kind of burden on the chairman to hold meetings,” he said.

Phillips, however, insisted that one cannot have meetings with people who do not wish to meet.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com

Role of the PAAC

Unlike Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviews government spending long after it happens, the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) must track the Budget, as well as its general administration, on an ongoing basis. It is mandated to check budgetary expenditure of government agencies to ensure they are in accordance with parliamentary approval; monitor expenditure as it occurs; keep the Parliament informed of how the Budget is being implemented; and enquire into the administration of the Government to determine hindrances to efficiency and make recommendations for improvement of public administration.

In November of each year, the committee is required to consider the status of the medium-term economic programme and the progress of meeting the specified fiscal targets – fiscal deficit and or surplus; the primary surplus, as well as the resources and borrowing needs for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Members of the PAAC

Opposition members

Mikael Phillips – Chairman

Lisa Hanna

Fitz Jackson

Government members

Dave Brown

Heroy Clarke

Tova Hamilton

Juliet Holness

Krystal Lee

Dwight Sibblies

Tamika Davis

Franklin Witter

Kerensia Morrison

Phillip Henriques

Mike Henry