AG TO RETURN REPORTS
AuGD surprised special audits were sent back by Speaker of the House; Chang says no outstanding reports ‘as of today’; Robinson labels deputy PM’s announcement ‘disingenuous’
Published:Saturday | March 23, 2024 | 12:12 AMEdmond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter
AUDITOR GENERAL (AG) Pamela Monroe Ellis says she will be dispatching two reports to Parliament on Monday that had been previously sent by her for tabling in the legislature, but were returned to her department yesterday by Speaker of the House, Juliet Holness.
The return of the reports yesterday apparently took the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) by surprise.
Monroe Ellis confirmed to The Gleaner yesterday that two reports she sent to Parliament on December 28 and January 29 were returned by the parliamentary leadership to her department yesterday.
This means that the first report which is a special audit of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) was returned by Parliament to the AuGD 84 days, or nearly three months, after the report was sent to the legislature for tabling.
The second report, which is a special audit of Tax Administration Jamaica, was sent back to the AuGD 54 days, or nearly two months, after Parliament received the report for tabling.
In a Gleaner report published on March 6, Executive Director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, Jeanette Calder, said that the failure to table two reports from the AG for more than a month is a serious threat to efficient parliamentary oversight and monitoring of government agencies.
General Secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Dr Horace Chang, in a news release yesterday, sought to “set the record straight” in relation to what he said were “recent concerns and accusations related to the tabling of reports from the Integrity Commission and the Auditor General in Parliament”.
He charged that recent allegations “have suggested a deliberate delay by the Speaker of the House, the Honourable Juliet Holness, in tabling reports from the Integrity Commission and the auditor general”.
However, he said that “as of today” (yesterday), “there are no outstanding reports from either the Integrity Commission or the auditor general awaiting tabling in Parliament”.
Chang said that this clarification is significant, as it “directly contradicts the accusations levelled against the Speaker of the House”.
According to Chang, “These allegations have been proven to be baseless and misrepresent the procedural integrity of our parliamentary system. It is crucial for the public to understand that these unfounded claims have sought, without merit, to question the impartiality and integrity of our democratic process.”
He noted that the JLP “upholds transparency and accountability as the bedrock principles of governance”.
Declaring that the JLP “strongly advocates for accurate and truthful discourse”, Chang said that “misleading narratives and misinformation can undermine public trust and detract from the essential work of governance”.
Attempts to reach Dr Chang for a comment were unsuccessful as his phone rang without answer. He, however, asked that The Gleaner text its message, but he never responded.
However, Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Julian Robinson, told The Gleaner yesterday that the statement made by Chang is “disingenuous”.
“He very carefully used the words ‘as of today’, but in any reading of it someone would assume that no reports were sent to the Speaker,” he said.
“So when Dr Chang issues a release to say as of today there are no outstanding reports, he does so being fully aware that reports were sent to the Speaker and the Speaker sent them back to the auditor general,” he said.
Robinson further argued that by “deliberately eliminating that information it now puts the auditor general’s integrity into question, because to the average reader they are going to feel that the auditor general sent no report to Parliament”.
In her ruling on the tabling of reports in November last year, the Speaker of the House said reports from the AuGD on public bodies would be tabled in keeping with Section 30 of the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act.
Section 30 (b) of the FAA Act states: “If the appropriate minister fails within two months after receipt of the report to present it to the House of Representatives, the auditor general shall transmit a copy of the report to the Speaker of the House to be presented by him to the House.”
However, Robinson argued that the Speaker’s ruling infringes on the independence of the auditor general.
“The framers of the Constitution never ever envisioned that a report should be sent to a minister before they are sent to Parliament,” he said.
The PAC chairman contended that there is a specific reason why the auditor general sends her reports directly to Parliament.
“The auditor general is not under the direction or control of anybody,” he said, adding that she was a creature of the Constitution.
“I believe the ruling is wrong in law, the process was wrong where it was unilaterally done by the Speaker and worse where the opinion (of the attorney general) that formed the basis of the ruling has not been shared with the Parliament,” Robinson said.
“Why is it that the Speaker refuses to share that opinion? I believe the reason she refuses to share it is because the opinion does not accord with the view that she has taken,” he added.