Executive director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), Jeanette Calder, has called attention to more than a dozen investigative reports and three special reports by the Integrity Commission that are yet to be reviewed by the Oversight Committee of Parliament.
The civil-society advocate said that after a 24-month wait for the naming of a critical anti-corruption committee, the Oversight Committee finally had its first session in July 2020. Since that time, the committee has had three more sittings, the last in November 2021.
Calder outlined that the first two meetings dealt with the committee’s terms of reference, while the third looked at the three annual reports, and the fourth, a continuation of the last report, with a focus on the asset-declaration process.
While acknowledging that the discussions were necessary, Calder, however, observed that to date, the deliberations were limited to “housekeeping and procedure with no focus to date on the matter of the findings of investigative reports”.
The Standing Orders of Parliament, Section 73D, states that the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the performance of the Integrity Commission.
It also states that the committee shall review the reports and make recommendations to both Houses of Parliament. A report sent to Parliament by the director of corruption prosecutions is to be reviewed within 30 days of its submission.
“JAMP’s concern relates in particular to 14 investigative reports and three special reports that need the review and recommendations to the Parliament and concrete actions by the Cabinet, particularly as it relates to holding public officials to account for any losses or mismanagement of public resources,” said Calder.
The JAMP executive director commended the Government for not denying the Integrity Commission any request for financial resources to get the job done. However, she reasoned that “being denied the time, attention, and review of their work by this crucial committee compromises the commission’s accountability chain.
“The committee cannot be satisfied with their performance, and we take this opportunity to ask what is detaining the delivery of this service they render,” she said.
At the November meeting, Edmund Bartlett, chairman of the Oversight Committee, indicated that a joint select committee would be named to review the Integrity Commission Act, 2017.
The committee has been named and members of the public have been invited to make submissions to Parliament on proposed amendments to the anti-corruption law.
In a Gleaner interview earlier this week, Bartlett said that the committee will resume its meeting in early July.
“The Integrity Oversight Committee that I chair will have priority in the immediate period after the Sectoral Debate,” he said.
Bartlett, who is also leader of government business in the Lower House, said that the Holness administration has managed the affairs of Parliament to allow for three key deliverables.
He said that at the start of the new parliamentary year, the concerns and affairs of the constituencies were given priority through the participation of the House in the Budget Debate.
“The Budget is number one. Then the Sectoral Debate follows. In the interim, committees continue to operate, but a greater focus is on joint select committees that have to do with specific pieces of legislation to be promulgated,” Bartlett said.