Staff dismissed, transferred from Dunn's River

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) is reporting that some staff at the Dunn's River Falls and Park have been dismissed and others transferred as part of remedial action at the popular attraction.

The move comes after an audit conducted at the St Ann-based property found significant and long-term fraud, among other issues.

READ: Mismanagement, fraud identified At Dunn's River

READ: Dunn’s River racket - police, AG probe fraud allegations 

The UDC says the staff changes involved members at the management, supervisory and senior levels.

The agency says it will continue to take decisive action to remedy poor financial management processes and operational irregularities at Dunn’s River.

Full Statement

Since taking the decisive action to remedy the matter of poor financial management processes and operational irregularities at Dunn's River Falls and Park (DRFP), the boards of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and St. Ann’s Development Company (SADCo) have made major organisational changes to the human resource structure at Dunn's River Falls and Park.

Chairman of the UDC Senator Ransford Braham explained, “While we appreciate that the staff at the Park remain cooperative; we continue to ask for their understanding of the UDC’s position. It is not our intention to interfere with the functions or reputations of those who have adhered to the law and the policies in place at the Park.” The first set of changes took effect last Wednesday, January 9, and involved members of the Dunn's River staff at the management, supervisory and senior levels.

Actions to date have included some staff being separated from the entity, as well as some being transferred to other attraction sites within the UDC, whilst the on-going investigations are concluded. The organisational changes made are in line with the UDC’s human resource policies, which allows for appropriate re-assignment during the due diligence and review process, where necessary.

The UDC will be making further changes in the upcoming days and weeks as it continues to assess and remedy the inefficiencies identified by the independent external audit commissioned last year by the UDC.

The Chairman also stated,“The UDC and SADCo Boards has every intention to bring the operations of the country’s assets in question under good governance in the shortest possible timeframe.” 

Prior to the staff reshuffle, the UDC and SADCo Boards began to address the key findings of the audit. The recently appointed independent Programme Management Office (PMO) has been mandated to oversee the process to drive sustainable change at Dunn's River Falls and other SADCo managed entities where issues have been identified.

The UDC will continue to communicate with the staff at Dunn’s River Falls and Park and remain in dialogue the Union Of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) and Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), which represent a number of the employees at Dunn's River Falls. 

The UDC also assures that the matter will remain above board with full transparency, while it works to implement the recommendations of the independent audit report without obstructing the ongoing investigations of the relevant authorities. 

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