Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter

Hylton

Despite advice from the Government's senior legal adviser, Solicitor General Michael Hylton, that the more than $2.5 billion in the Universal Access Fund is State revenue and should be paid into the Consolidated Fund, the Ministry of Industry, Technology and Commerce (MITEC) is working assiduously to ensure that the money remains under the watch of the company it established to manage the fund.

Impede the collection

The ministry's senior legal adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Gleaner that the ministry is worried that paying over the funds into the Consolidated Fund could unnerve the stakeholders and possibly impede the collection of the levy.

"There is a real likelihood that if the sum is paid into the Consolidated Fund, the carriers, both local and overseas and the U.S. authorities concerned with telecommunications, could seek to challenge the imposition of the levy, as the Universal Access Fund Company is obliged to demonstrate at all times that the levy is being solely used for the purpose of universal access to telecom services," said the senior legal adviser.

He added: "Unless the Universal Access Fund Company Limited is able to demonstrate that the levy is being used solely for such purposes it would destroy one of the fundamental bases on which the Government was able to secure the consent and compliance of key stakeholders in relation to payment of the levy."

Dr. Jean Dixon, permanent secretary at the MITEC, is wishing that the Solicitor General's original ruling will be overturned. "It is our sincere hope that the money remain under the direct watch of the Universal Access Fund Company Limited," she said.

The ministry's senior legal adviser revealed that the opinion from the Solicitor General's office was that under the Constitution, all revenue should be paid into the Consolidated Fund, which is managed by the Accountant General.

However, he explained that the ministry was not contending that the funds were not revenue, but rather, was arguing that the same section of the Constitution facilitated exemptions if some other law stated otherwise.

The Universal Access Fund Limited is a government entity which collects a levy on incoming international calls to Jamaica. The revenue earned from the charges, which stood at $1.4 billion in July 2006, should go towards financing the implementation of the national e-learning project, which is designed to enhance the education process through the use of information technology.