The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has shot down statements from Education, Youth and Information Minister, Fayval Williams, and her deputy, Robert Morgan, that the Finance Ministry has taken surcharge action against Acting Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry, Dr Grace McLean.
The Finance Ministry also rejected assertions from Williams that similar action has been taken against Permanent Secretary Dean-Roy Bernard, who is embroiled in a court battle with the Government over his desire to be officially reinstated to the position within the Education Ministry.
Williams made the statements at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, and the Dr Nigel Clarke-led Finance Ministry issued the rebuttal statement on the matter later in the day.
Dr Grace McLean
“With reference to media reports today regarding the issue of surcharges, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service hereby advises that it is currently in the process of gathering and reviewing information to inform evaluation of the recommendation made by the auditor general for surcharge of Mr Dean-Roy Bernard and Mrs Grace McLean,” the statement said.
“All this time no surcharge has been issued,” it added.
A surcharge is a fine levied against civil servants who have been found to be derelict in their duties, and as such, have caused the Government financial losses.
Last year, Auditor General Pamela Monroe-Ellis recommended the institution of “surcharge action against two senior officers” of the Education Ministry by the Ministry of Finance “on the basis that both failed to ensure that Government funds were appropriated in keeping with the requisite law and established guidelines”, among other things.
McLean and Bernard are believed to have been the senior officers who were cited by Monroe-Ellis relative to the alleged failure to account for approximately $124 million that was given to the Jamaica Committee of Tertiary Education (JCTE) by the Education Ministry.
On Wednesday, Williams told the media at the post-Cabinet press briefing that the surcharge action had been taken against the individuals.
“Surcharge action was taken by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and letters would have been written to our (present) permanent secretary (acting) in that regard, and I know that she has taken the necessary steps to deliver the letters that would have come to her,” said Williams.
Maureen Dwyer has been acting in the position of Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry since McLean was sent on leave last October, and it was Bernard’s earlier reassignment from the Education Ministry to the Finance Ministry in another capacity that led to McLean’s appointment as Acting Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry.
In responding to a follow-up question at the press briefing, State Minister in the Education Ministry, Robert Morgan, said the surcharge letters “have been delivered to the persons in question”.
Robert Morgan
He added that, “They have 30 days to respond (or) activate whatever personal action they may seek to take in that regard.”
The Finance Ministry has now flatly denied those statements.
The Financial Investigations Divisions (FID) and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) are conducting probes into the matter of the funds that were transferred to the JCTE.
