By Tony Morrison,
Staff Reporter
LIKE an errant child, the so-called "Fat Cat Salary Scandal" has not yet been put to bed, even after one year, one special report, three Ministry Papers, and several statements to Parliament and the Public Accounts Committee.
A final report outlining what has been done to correct the situation is now due for submission to the Public Accounts Committee. The report is due by the end of this month, but it is understood that this study of the subject will be at least two weeks late.
It also appears that no detailed Ministry of Finance internal audit has been carried out scrutinising the salaries in question since the scandal, despite the widespread concern after a number of discrepancies were uncovered by a preliminary audit by the Auditor General.
The findings of the final report on the subject are thus likely to lack critical empirical evidence and so the Public Accounts Committee and by extension the public could have to await another report from the Auditor General to know whether or not the agencies concerned are in still in breach of Government salary guidelines.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Audley Shaw said he would have to reserve further comment on the situation until he sees the final report, but indications are that it will have to be immediately submitted to the Auditor General for verification.
"This verification will be even more critical if there has truly been no internal audit by the Ministry of Finance, and the report is again based only on word-of-mouth assurances."
The Opposition Spokesman on Finance adds that a key issue of the scandal was that, "Government agencies must be required to provide accurate information, and agencies or persons found doing otherwise should face severe consequences." Cabinet Secretary Carlton Davies, who was assigned special responsibility to handle the salaries issue, declined to speak on the matter when contacted on Tuesday.
Government officials contacted by the Financial Gleaner have been tight-lipped on the contents of the report being prepared, or details of current salary packages, but a major stumbling block to any changes being made seems to be the existence of legally binding contracts in the hands of most of the executives concerned.
These contracts, some analysts have pointed out, prove that Government officials were always well aware of the salaries paid to the executives in question, although they pretended not to be, and allowed political scapegoats to be made of the executives involved.
The $9.13 million remuneration and perks of Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) Governor Derick Latibeaudiere, according to Dennis Townsend, Director of the Compensation Unit of the Ministry of Finance, is still being "dealt with" by a sub-committee of the BoJ board.
The Finance Ministry is still "working on some problems" it had with the $7.5M salary package of HEART Trust NTA executive director Robert Gregory.
Sources close to the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) Governor said he is particularly concerned about how his situation was handled, and what he feels were "obvious attempts to sully his reputation".
In an interview with the Financial Gleaner last year, he charged that he had not lied about his salary package, and had done nothing underhand, pointing out that had he done so he would have been fired, since he is "no one's favourite."
He argued at the time that he could command the same or more elsewhere, and that since he was the holder of a contract that had been properly approved, he would not accept a penny more or less.
He declined to comment further when contacted on Wednesday, and said he was awaiting the report, but when pressed, added that he was "not unhappy" with what he believes it will say about the BoJ and its systems.
Mr. Gregory had come under fire for earning more than several other educators in the system, including more than twice what senior University of the West Indies personal take home.
Former National Commercial Bank (NCB) boss turned head of the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ), Rex James, has reportedly not inherited all of the $9.69 million salary of the scandal's major casualty, Gavin Chen. But Mr. James refused to comment on his package and the apparent three year contract he signed recently.
However, the Financial Gleaner understands that as a part of his three-year contract, Mr. James has been assigned the house formerly occupied by former NIBJ president Gavin Chen, leaving him free to earn what could amount to an additional allowance by renting his own house if he so desires.
When contacted on that issue last year, Mr. James refused to comment then as well, stating that it was neither the paper's or the public's business what he chose to do with his own assets.
