‘Get up to date’

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams is urging government ministries to submit their appropriations accounts to the auditor general promptly in order to strengthen good governance.

Her call follows a recent report by the governance watchdog body Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), which revealed that $3 trillion in spending has been unaccounted for across 16 government entities over a six- to 11-year period.

Speaking during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, Williams stressed that the funds are not “missing”, but rather, are unaccounted for because reports have not been submitted to the auditor general by several ministries.

“Appropriations accounts reflect the ministry’s expenditure in a financial year compared against the amount approved by Parliament for the respective ministries,” she stated.

She noted that there are many safeguards in place to guide how taxpayers’ money is spent.

Every October, she said the Ministry of Finance puts out a budget call, where all ministries are required to compile and submit their budgets. These budgets are done within specific guidelines, and the figures from these budgets are then presented to Parliament for approval.

During the year, the ministries submit their monthly cash flows to the finance ministry to indicate their spend for the month, which includes salaries, capital spending, and other operational activities.

In the case of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, their spending would include how much they have to use to make debt payments and interest payments, Williams said.

Accountability crisis

Williams emphasised that funds allocated to the various ministries are routed through the accountant general, who oversees payments via the banking system to contractors or service providers’ accounts.

“Notwithstanding all of that, in terms of the safeguards that are there, I must make it clear that ministries do need to get up to date with their account submissions to the auditor general,” she said.

Jeanette Calder, executive director and founder of JAMP, has described the finding as an accountability crisis, noting that the serial offenders are topped by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The accountability body’s investigation revealed that for nine years, the education ministry has not given an account for spending totalling $902 billion. Similarly, for 10 years, the health ministry spent $695 billion, for which it has provided no document, and the labour and social security ministry has not accounted for $53.4 billion.

The Jamaican Parliament was found to have spent $6 billion over five years without reporting on it. Similarly, the Department of Correctional Services spent $36.9 billion over four years, and the Jamaica Constabulary Force allocated $152 billion over three years, all without providing explanations for these expenditures.

The Office of the Prime Minister spent $12.02 billion over three years, which, JAMP said, has not been accounted for.

Of concern, the civil society group noted, is the $111.3 billion from the Ministry of Finance over three years. The money was spent through its appropriations accounts.

While acknowledging and commending the ministries that have stayed up to date, Williams said she stands ready to support those that are lagging behind.

“We at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service are committed to working with ministries that are behind in terms of putting additional resources in place in order to begin to help these ministries to clear the backlog and to ensure timely completion of these reports at the standard that is required by the auditor general. The goal, of course, is to get to that place where these appropriations accounts are done in a timely manner and submitted within four months,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com