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The accumulation of hundreds of thousands of dollars of unexplained credit card debt by managers at key government agencies dominated Tuesday's sitting of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC).
PAC members scolded the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), Caribbean Engineering Corporation Limited and the Jamaica Urban Transit Company as the agencies' misuse of credit cards and other financial problems came to the fore.
Officials from the Ministry of Water and Housing and the Ministry of Transport and Works were in the hot seat as they answered questions from the Auditor General's Department and PAC members on financial irregularities from 2004-2007.
It became apparent as the meeting went on, however, that none of the government representatives was equipped with information to satisfy the queries.
An audit conducted by the Auditor General's Department in 2005 showed that a former Chairman of the NHDC accumulated $314,000 in credit card debt in the space of three months.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing, Genefa Hibbert told the PAC that there were no receipts or invoices to prove that the sum spent was for company business.
PAC chairman Dr. Omar Davies was incredulous.
"Charges of $100,000 a month is more than most persons' salaries, more than 75% of the civil service. Somebody in that system must have said ‘hey what's going on' if it was three months," said Dr. Davies.
The Permanent Secretary attempted to explain that had the relevant documents been found, it could be determined how much needed to be repaid.
However, Dr. Davies quickly brushed this aside as irrelevant.
"PS that's clever but it won't work. There is another way to do it. The bank is still in existence so just ask them to give you a print out of these things. They would charge you some money but they would have that," said Dr. Davies.
It was also revealed that a Corporate Manager at Caribbean Engineering Corporation Limited had accumulated more than $500,000 in unexplained credit card debt and it became apparent that no attempt had been made to find out what the charges were for.
The issuance of Corporate Credit Cards in the Housing and Water Ministry was discontinued after the 2005 audit.
The Jamaica Urban Transit Company's overpayment of statutory deductions did not escape the PAC's notice.
It was revealed that eight employees, two of whom are still employed to the company, had been overpaid.
An already peeved PAC member Everald Warmington blew up when the committee heard that none of the money had been recovered and no one at the company had any idea how this would be done.
"I constantly speak about this when people show this kind of disregard and disrespect for this Committee, coming here without being prepared. Three years, two years we have these things lying around and we have the same thing this morning. People come here who are not prepared," said Mr. Warmington.
"If questions are put on record by the Auditor General there must be proper research and the answers taken here and not be told that we are going to research to come back and I am tired of having this come before the committee every week," he said.
PAC members scolded the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), Caribbean Engineering Corporation Limited and the Jamaica Urban Transit Company as the agencies' misuse of credit cards and other financial problems came to the fore.
Officials from the Ministry of Water and Housing and the Ministry of Transport and Works were in the hot seat as they answered questions from the Auditor General's Department and PAC members on financial irregularities from 2004-2007.
It became apparent as the meeting went on, however, that none of the government representatives was equipped with information to satisfy the queries.
An audit conducted by the Auditor General's Department in 2005 showed that a former Chairman of the NHDC accumulated $314,000 in credit card debt in the space of three months.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing, Genefa Hibbert told the PAC that there were no receipts or invoices to prove that the sum spent was for company business.
PAC chairman Dr. Omar Davies was incredulous.
"Charges of $100,000 a month is more than most persons' salaries, more than 75% of the civil service. Somebody in that system must have said ‘hey what's going on' if it was three months," said Dr. Davies.
The Permanent Secretary attempted to explain that had the relevant documents been found, it could be determined how much needed to be repaid.
However, Dr. Davies quickly brushed this aside as irrelevant.
"PS that's clever but it won't work. There is another way to do it. The bank is still in existence so just ask them to give you a print out of these things. They would charge you some money but they would have that," said Dr. Davies.
It was also revealed that a Corporate Manager at Caribbean Engineering Corporation Limited had accumulated more than $500,000 in unexplained credit card debt and it became apparent that no attempt had been made to find out what the charges were for.
The issuance of Corporate Credit Cards in the Housing and Water Ministry was discontinued after the 2005 audit.
The Jamaica Urban Transit Company's overpayment of statutory deductions did not escape the PAC's notice.
It was revealed that eight employees, two of whom are still employed to the company, had been overpaid.
An already peeved PAC member Everald Warmington blew up when the committee heard that none of the money had been recovered and no one at the company had any idea how this would be done.
"I constantly speak about this when people show this kind of disregard and disrespect for this Committee, coming here without being prepared. Three years, two years we have these things lying around and we have the same thing this morning. People come here who are not prepared," said Mr. Warmington.
"If questions are put on record by the Auditor General there must be proper research and the answers taken here and not be told that we are going to research to come back and I am tired of having this come before the committee every week," he said.