IC annual report could be tabled today
Published:Tuesday | July 9, 2024 | 12:11 AM
The 2023 annual report of the Integrity Commission (IC) is expected to be tabled today following a one-week delay, owing to the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Juliet Holness indicated that the IC annual report would have been tabled last week.
Little more than a year has now passed since the IC disclosed in its previous annual report that it was investigating six parliamentarians and 28 public servants for illicit enrichment.
Some commentators and politicians have been urging the IC to table reports on the six lawmakers or provide an update on its investigation.
However, director of investigations at the IC, Kevon Stephenson, said at a recent meeting of the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee that probes into illicit enrichment and other acts of corruption require sufficient time and extensive scrutiny before completion.
He signalled at the meeting that Jamaicans would soon have a better understanding of the complexity of these investigations when the anti-corruption body releases reports on these alleged offences to Parliament.
Later today, Edmund Bartlett, leader of Government business in the House, is expected to close the Sectoral Debate.
Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke is scheduled to make a statement to Parliament this afternoon. He is expected to provide the country with an update on whether a payment has been triggered under the Government’s excess rainfall policy with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF).
The finance minister said that Hurricane Beryl has triggered the Government of Jamaica’s tropical cyclone policy with the CCRIF with a payment of approximately US$16.3 million, or about J$2.5 billion.
Meanwhile, at least one chairman of a select committee of Parliament has expressed surprise that this week’s planned meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) has been cancelled without consultation.
Mikael Phillips, who chairs the PAAC, said yesterday that he was not aware that the meeting had been cancelled until he was contacted by The Gleaner.
He said that he subsequently received a note from the clerk assigned to the PAAC, stating that the Speaker was requesting that all committees, with the exception of the Constituency Development Fund Committee (CDF), be postponed until further notice.
Speaker of the House Juliet Holness chairs the CDF Committee.
The PAAC chairman said he has been pushing for the committee to have a meeting over the last two weeks and received confirmation of attendance from at least four members yesterday. The meeting was planned for Wednesday.
Other committee meetings cancelled for this week were the Public Accounts Committee, the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Integrity Commission Act 2017, the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Jamaica Teaching Council Act, 2022 and the Economy and Production Committee.