‘Cowards!’

Fears of victimisation at the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) are intensifying after CEO Farrah Blake labelled some employees as “cowards” and urged dissatisfied staff to quit as internal turmoil deepens at the agency overseeing Jamaica’s ganja industry.

“You don’t like the authority anymore, you leave,” Blake said, after earlier saying, “I’m not threatening anybody.”

Blake openly aired her frustrations in an August 26 meeting with more than 15 employees from the human resource management and administration division. In the 25-minute session, the CEO voiced her dissatisfaction with internal leaks, asserting that they were undermining the CLA’s reputation.

“You may not be happy with CLA, you may not be happy with decisions that are made, you may not be happy with the people making the decisions, but you did sign that agreement, and if the public sector is serious, there can be repercussions,” she said.

It is not clear what agreement she was referring to, but it is standard practice for new employees in the public sector to sign an agreement to adhere to the Official Secrets Act, a colonial-era law that criminalises disclosure but is seen as a tool to intimidate staff from revealing potential wrongdoing.

Blake has not responded to emailed questions about her comments. An assistant said she was in a meeting when The Sunday Gleaner called her office on Friday.

The CLA has been facing public scrutiny after The Sunday Gleaner revealed in August that an oversight committee within the CLA was disbanded shortly after rejecting an unqualified applicant for a senior role. Despite the committee’s opposition, the individual was hired and resigned a few months later.

The story has exposed a major rift between staff and the CLA leadership and questions about the level of competence in handling affairs at the regulator.

“It is appalling, I’m telling you,” said an employee responding to Blake’s comments. The official did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.

“Tension is rife across the CLA and the CEO could not even say to us that she hears the concerns and is committed to addressing the issues. Instead, it’s just about finding out who. We have not even been spoken to as a general staff. Why would staff share anything outside? There must be a reason. Most of us will not use the whistleblowing protocol because we nuh trust dem. And the meeting vindicates us.”

The worker added: “A clear witch-hunt is going on and the board, the ministry, the Auditor General’s Department, not one, not a single soul is doing anything about it. If it did not reach the media, we wouldn’t have any response from the board.”

Over the past four months, more than two dozen CLA employees have voiced their concerns to The Sunday Gleaner, particularly about the disbanding of the Human Resource Executive Committee in January and subsequent hiring decisions. The CLA employs roughly 60 persons, all on two- to three-year contracts. The CEO has the final say on hiring.

Blake appears to believe that the HR management and administration division is responsible for the leaks, even mocking the staff and accusing them of not being smart enough to conceal their actions.

“It’s childish, it’s low, and it’s coward. It’s not even as though you can send something and it says or it gives the impression that it’s coming from another unit,” Blake said, while stressing the importance of confidentiality.

“Whoever is doing it, it is so specific and it is so detailed that it has to come from here. So how does it make you feel knowing that you can’t even throw a shot in the dark? The level of intellect is not that great that you’d be able to strategically camouflage what you’re doing.”

‘We will not be answering any questions ...’

Blake, who joined the CLA as CEO in August 2023, warned that the release of internal information could impact employees’ future career prospects.

“You get mad and you leave here and you go somewhere else, people are going to look at your tenure at CLA … that toxic place that you used to work at that ends up in the paper every week for six weeks. You’re going to be judged by that place, and however the public feels about that place is how they’re going to rate you, myself included.”

In addition to addressing internal tensions, Blake made it clear that the CLA does not intend to respond to several questions sent by The Sunday Gleaner since August 12.

The enquiries covered a range of issues, including human resource practices, efforts to buy a 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser, contracts for refurbishing a facility recently leased to house the CLA, and outstanding annual reports.

“We will not be answering any questions about how people are hired, if they have passed their probation, if they work in security or they don’t … . Whatever the questions are asking, we’re not answering any of those questions,” Blake said, citing the Data Protection Act (DPA).

She added: “Matters of the authority and how we move, who we contract to move, who is assigned to drive vehicles and all of those things, that is not for public consumption.”

After ending her comments, which she called her “two cents”, Blake asked staff to voice concerns, but the only query was regarding the CLA’s planned relocation.

This is the second instance in recent months where a public entity has deployed the DPA as a means to restrict access to basic information.

Blake said that information about staff was confidential, and the CLA was “duty-bound by the Data Protection Act (2020) to protect the privacy of our staff”, according to a response she provided on August 23.

She asked that questions that “do not expose the authority to a confidentiality breach” be resubmitted. The Sunday Gleaner resent them on September 2, but there has been no acknowledgment.

Blake’s comments during the August 26 meeting appear to be in contrast to a statement released by the CLA on August 10, which presented a more conciliatory tone in response to published staff concerns.

“The CLA acknowledges the feedback from its staff and is diligently working to refine its systems and procedures,” the statement read. “Our employees are our most significant resource. We are devoted to ensuring every team member feels acknowledged and appreciated.”

‘Disgraceful’ treatment

Tensions within the CLA intensified last week following the departure of Faith Graham, the former director of enforcement and monitoring who once served as interim CEO.

Graham, who joined the CLA in 2018, arrived at work on September 2 to find a letter informing her that her three-year contract expired that day “and will not be renewed”. This was reportedly the first communication she received regarding her contract status, despite having expressed interest in renewing her contract in a letter to Blake in June.

“Who treats staff like that? It’s disgraceful and suggests that despite the concerns, nothing is being done to improve how staff are being treated. Miss Graham was like the brain of the CLA and she is just cast out,” one employee remarked. “What will it take for something to be done?”

In a further twist, the official who was reportedly instructed to notify Graham of her contract’s expiration was later informed that they would not be considered for a position at the CLA once their secondment from a government ministry ended.

The official had previously indicated their intention to resign from their substantive post to join the CLA permanently.

In January, Blake disbanded the HR oversight committee after it opposed hiring an unqualified candidate for a senior role. Despite the committee’s objections, the individual was hired in February but later resigned in May.

The CLA board has insisted that the committee was not “disbanded”, stating that its “tenure of three years” ended in January to facilitate a review.

However, a copy of the committee’s terms of reference obtained by The Sunday Gleaner does not indicate a three-year lifespan, but instead specifies that members are appointed for two years. The CEO’s memo disbanding the committee did not reference the expiration of any tenure, but only said a review “has become necessary”.

Following the public revelations in August, the Christopher McPherson-chaired board announced a review of the operations of the committee, and all hiring decisions since January. Questions about the timeline of the review have not been answered. A new committee is expected to be established by October.

The CLA is an entity of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, whose portfolio minister is Senator Aubyn Hill. The tenure of McPherson, a senior director at the National Land Agency and former adviser to Hill, is due to end on September 11.

Hill’s ministry said it would allow the board to complete its review, when asked whether it would support calls by staff for an independent audit of the CLA.

Opposition Spokesman on Industry Anthony Hylton has called for the board to resign and the auditor general to probe the CLA.

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com