What is going on at the FID? Mosiah, any word?

[Lazie]

What the PM mean by its fishy for "the man to be keeping the goal, to be scoring the goal themself?"

What the PM a talk bout when him say that certain files that are connected to a big multimillion fraud case ... with .. as the PM said ..., "PO..LITIKAL connections"

[Mosiah]

FID?!?!

[Lazie]

FID?!?!

Financial Investigatons Division

[Mosiah]

I have no idea.

[Me]

Another example of how the PNP did not have a clue or want to have a clue about operational discipline. Too much corruption. They needed to be kicked to the curb. Missing documents, missing money. The country will suffer for years because of the mismanagement, overpaying and bad contracts of these entities.

[Lazie]

Another example of how the PNP did not have a clue or want to have a clue about operational discipline. Too much corruption. They needed to be kicked to the curb. Missing documents, missing money. The country will suffer for years because of the mismanagement, overpaying and bad contracts of these entities.

Yuh notice how the 2 nuts pon the wall not saying anything about it? Read dem up long time.

[Mosiah]

The really sad part is, it's already clear that the new govt. wants to follow exactly in those crooked footsteps. And is not even a year yet! Anywhey yuh tun...?

[Lazie]

The really sad part is, it's already clear that the new govt. wants to follow exactly in those crooked footsteps. And is not even a year yet! Anywhey yuh tun...?

... another emotional outburst?

'It was a messy affair at FID'
Missing $18 million still not found; 20 people had access to vaultBALFORD HENRY, Observer writer balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, June 19, 2008


PRIME Minister Bruce Golding yesterday described as inappropriate the performance of the recently transferred officers of the Financial Intelligence Division (FID) of the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
"I can't comment on their level of training. What I can certainly comment on is their level of performance, and their performance was not appropriate to the nature of the responsibilities that they had to carry," Golding told a press briefing at Jamaica House yesterday.
The prime minister was responding to questions from the press on statements he made Tuesday in the House of Representatives regarding concerns about the FID raised by Opposition Spokesman on National Security Peter Phillips.
Phillips, speaking in the sectoral debate, criticised the transfer of 'senior staff' of the division whom he said had been trained "at great expense to the Government of Jamaica and our international partners".
Phillips also claimed that the transferred officers had a "record of competence and professionalism".
But Golding told yesterday's briefing that while he could not go into details as the matters was being investigated, he had information from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service about "some disturbing happenings" within the FID.
He said that the matter of the missing $18 million, including money said to have been taken from former Matthews Lane strongman Donald 'Zeeks' Phipps, has still not been resolved.
"There is no evidence that persons external to the division broke into Shalimar Avenue (head office) and somehow managed to enter the vault," the prime minister commented.
He said that one of the things hampering those investigations, was the discovery of an 'unusual arrangement' in which about 20 persons had access to the vault.
He said that in October 2007, after the money went missing, a directive was issued by the financial secretary that funds which came into the possession of the division should not be stored at Shalimar Avenue, but in a special vault at the Bank of Jamaica which has maximum security. However, despite the directive, the prime minister said that up to recently, "when the new director took charge, that new director found $13 million sitting in the vault (at Shalimar Avenue) which had not been sent to the BOJ.
"In addition, the practices that were being observed left themselves open to criminal manipulation because, if the FID representatives went on an operation and they seized millions of dollars, the standard practice ought to have been the money is checked and handed over to armoured security to be convoyed into town. (But) they simply put it in the back of the vehicle. Their private vehicle," Golding said.
"If somewhere along the way they were carjacked and the money had been stolen, what explanation would they have given, what excuse could have been offered and was that not a situation where you are virtually inviting yourself to be carjacked?" he asked.
He said, too, that it was also observed that assets that came under the control of the division were not recorded.
"All of those things are just now being put in place, since the new director took office.
"Therefore, I thought, perhaps Dr Peter Phillips was not properly informed, and he may not have been since it was not part of his ministry," the prime minister said.

[Lazie]

The really sad part is, it's already clear that the new govt. wants to follow exactly in those crooked footsteps. And is not even a year yet! Anywhey yuh tun...?

The sad part is that unuh refuse fi inform unuhselves.

"Therefore, I thought, perhaps Dr Peter Phillips was not properly informed, and he may not have been since it was not part of his ministry," the prime minister said.

[Me]

This new govt has clearly shown that they are more serious about having a better structure in these organizations and stronger controls. They have done a bad job with security, but they have certainly had a better approach with government managed entities than the PNP.

[Mosiah]

And I like how they have begun to address many of these problems. However, 18 years can do a lot to one's character and by the way things have been shaping up recently...