Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
PENNICOOK
THE MISAPPROPRIATION scandal that rocked the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) New York office three years ago, once again came into the spotlight at yesterday's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in Gordon House.
In answering questions about the incident from PAC Chairman Audley Shaw, Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook disclosed that there were excessive costs for brochures provided by a particular printery.
"One of the things that came out in the report, for example, Sir, is that a particular company that printed brochures for the Jamaica Tourist Board between '97 and 2002 was paid some US$1.23 million for printing ..." he revealed.
"They were paid that amount of money over a five-year period. Now, the question is: Did the Jamaica Tourist Board get value for that money, how much did it get and could it have been done cheaper? That investigation was not pursued," Pennicook said.
But Auditor General Adrian Strachan pointed out that, according to the Internal Auditor's Report, which is yet to be made public, the costs were extremely excessive.
EXCESSIVE CHARGES
"... He did some comparative reviews and he came up with some figures which suggested that there were excessive charges ranging up to 694 per cent," Strachan reported.
He said that the internal audit report indicated that there was a range of discrepancies identified in some of the billing. However, a specific figure was not determined.
It was also further revealed that Solicitor General Michael Hylton had recommended to the Minister of Tourism at the time, Portia Simpson Miller, that a formal claim be made for a refund of any sums paid to this company.
These demands, the Solicitor General had suggested, should be followed with legal action.
But Mr. Pennicook told the PAC that he was never made aware of such recommendations.
He, however, revealed that following submissions of the findings of a probe of the misappropriation of millions of dollars at its New York office, the Director of Public Prosecutions Kent Pantry had ruled that while the evidence disclosed showed several departmental irregularities, no one was to be held criminally liable.
The JTB's New York office came in for scrutiny in 2002, after a lengthy email was circulated to the local media, alleging misuse of funds and other forms of impropriety.
Arising from the subsequent probe, two senior members of the New York office resigned.
