Letter of the Day | Wheatley's lack of leadership the biggest scandal

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I read with keen interest a series of stories in The Sunday Gleaner, where former Energy minister Dr Andrew Wheatley was trying to disentangle himself from the debacle that unfolded under his watch.

I wish to point out to Dr Wheatley that the role of a minister of government is about policy and control, and providing leadership to those in his or her supervision.

That there were serious integrity/corruption issues at the board level of at least two of the agencies under Wheatley's watch suggests that he was lackadaisical in his stewardship.

The general expectation of the Jamaican people, whom he had sworn to serve, is that he would hold the board and management to account, at the very least.

The number of breaches at Petrojam, National Energy Solutions and the Universal Service Fund confirms that Wheatley held no one to account - not the boards, over which he had direct supervision, nor the management, some of whom were his friends and associates.

In fact, under his leadership, there appears to have been a free-for-all, at best, and a deliberate corruption-enabling strategy, at worst.

We are awaiting the result of the various investigations which, hopefully, will give us more information than we currently have, but one thing is certain, It is entirely premature and unacceptable for Dr Wheatley to extricate himself from the fact that he was where the buck stopped in the chain of command. And beyond him, the Cabinet and the prime minister must be held to account and share in the blame.

Jamaica deserves better.

SHARI ANN HENRY

PNP YO

VP - Policy and Research