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GOVERNMENT yesterday confirmed that the contract for Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter, who has been working without one since November last year, is being finalised and will be signed "within a matter of days".
Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw made the announcement while answering questions tabled in Parliament by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Dr Omar Davies. According to Shaw, the length of time taken to ink the contract was to ensure that the terms were appropriate to the post of governor, while consistent with the government's overall public sector wage policy.
Wynter replaced former governor Derick Latibeaudiere whose contract was terminated in October of last year over terms Prime Minister Bruce Golding described as "unacceptable, embarrassing and repugnant".
Yesterday, Shaw said that in the absence of a contract the BOJ had put in place "suitable arrangements to compensate the governor for the services performed". He said advances made to the governor and provisions of other benefits in kind were directed by the basic provisions of the compensation package verbally agreed on by Wynter and the Government.
Shaw said the interim arrangements comprised monthly advances on salary payable, provision of residential accommodation and reimbursement or payment of expenses associated with the relocation of Wynter and his family from Barbados to Jamaica.
The finance minister also announced that the administration had decided to return to its policy of providing an official residence for the BOJ governor, which he said should prevent a repeat of the controversy that arose in the case of Latibeaudiere where the cost of rental and maintenance for the premises occupied "was so high it competed with the actual base salary of the governor".
"In that regard, we intend to construct a new official residence on the lands owned by the Bank of Jamaica in the Norbrook Estate area.
"...Governors will come and governors will go, [but] the official residence will remain there," Shaw said.
"The interim arrangements, until that is done, is that a house has been rented that is suitable for the governor of the Bank of Jamaica and his family and I will undertake to get the precise details in terms of costs," he added.
Davies, while stating that he understood the objectives which created the delay, said the almost one-year interim arrangement was sloppy.
"That's untidy; I don't think there can be any other word to describe that," Davies told the House.
Shaw, however, said that the Government had been compelled to move with all the speed necessary to get the new governor in office. "...When the new governor came on board we had some matters that were urgent," he said.
Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw made the announcement while answering questions tabled in Parliament by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Dr Omar Davies. According to Shaw, the length of time taken to ink the contract was to ensure that the terms were appropriate to the post of governor, while consistent with the government's overall public sector wage policy.
Wynter replaced former governor Derick Latibeaudiere whose contract was terminated in October of last year over terms Prime Minister Bruce Golding described as "unacceptable, embarrassing and repugnant".
Yesterday, Shaw said that in the absence of a contract the BOJ had put in place "suitable arrangements to compensate the governor for the services performed". He said advances made to the governor and provisions of other benefits in kind were directed by the basic provisions of the compensation package verbally agreed on by Wynter and the Government.
Shaw said the interim arrangements comprised monthly advances on salary payable, provision of residential accommodation and reimbursement or payment of expenses associated with the relocation of Wynter and his family from Barbados to Jamaica.
The finance minister also announced that the administration had decided to return to its policy of providing an official residence for the BOJ governor, which he said should prevent a repeat of the controversy that arose in the case of Latibeaudiere where the cost of rental and maintenance for the premises occupied "was so high it competed with the actual base salary of the governor".
"In that regard, we intend to construct a new official residence on the lands owned by the Bank of Jamaica in the Norbrook Estate area.
"...Governors will come and governors will go, [but] the official residence will remain there," Shaw said.
"The interim arrangements, until that is done, is that a house has been rented that is suitable for the governor of the Bank of Jamaica and his family and I will undertake to get the precise details in terms of costs," he added.
Davies, while stating that he understood the objectives which created the delay, said the almost one-year interim arrangement was sloppy.
"That's untidy; I don't think there can be any other word to describe that," Davies told the House.
Shaw, however, said that the Government had been compelled to move with all the speed necessary to get the new governor in office. "...When the new governor came on board we had some matters that were urgent," he said.
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