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MINISTER HENRY SPEAKS OUT ON JUTC ISSUE

Minister Henry (centre) addressing the Press Conference. Flanking him are Dr. Alwin Hales, Permanent Secretary ( left) and Mr. Robin Levy, Chairman, JUTC (right). 

Minister of Transport and Works, Hon Mike Henry held a press conference on December 18, 2008 at the Press Room of the Office of the Prime Minister during which time he addressed several issues related to the operations of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

The main thrust of the Minister’s statement dealt with the findings of the report coming out of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).

“Following the investigation which was recently launched by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) into a number of procurements at the JUTC, I and at least one other senior officer at the Ministry of Transport and Works, along with the required senior officers of the bus company, complied with the requisitions of the OCG for detailed information on aspects of the JUTC’s operations,” the Minister said.

In reference to the subsequent ruling by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to whom the findings from the OCG was sent, the Minister noted that the DPP advised that there was no prima facie evidence presented which warranted any criminal prosecution.

In speaking to the Ministry’s role in dealing with the matter, the Minister had this to say: “In seeking to balance the scale in terms of the need for both accountability and a sense of natural justice, as Minister with responsibility for the operations of the JUTC, I sought to ensure transparency while keeping an eye on the operational needs of the company and the value of the names and lives of the people involved. Hence, while directing the board to meet and respond to the allegations levelled by the OCG; having the Ministry’s auditors move in to examine all procurements this year; having the ministry’s oversight body reviewed with the aim of tightening up its monitoring of the agencies and entities within the ministry, I also accepted the resignations of the members of the board’s Finance and Procurement Committee, under whose watch the departmental breaches occurred.”

Turning to the matter of the Acting President, the Minister explained that he accepted an offer from him to go off on leave until the question of any likely criminal prosecution had been answered by the DPP. However, he noted, with the board being mandated to arrange for a smooth transition at the helm of the company’s management, the board decided to request to have Mr. Sangster remain in office until December 31, when adequate arrangements would be in place to run the company and deal with interim emergencies.

The Minister also used the opportunity to place the problems at the JUTC in perspective. He noted that the company’s inherent problems really stemmed from fundamental directions that were taken from the very outset.

Minister Henry asserted that the JUTC and the company’s connectivity to the broader multi-modal focus was very important in the development of the country’s overall transport network.