By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorSAYING "THE taxpaying public has a right to know", the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is calling for the immediate release of findings into allegations of fraud at the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) New York office.
The party notes that the Government has been in possession of the audited report "for quite sometime now" and as a point of principle, should be comfortable sharing the findings with the public.
"The allegations are very serious and the public needs to be told the truth about what actually happened at the JTB's New York office," explains Ed Bartlett, Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism. "Already there have been leaks in the form of innuendos and rumours...leaks which so far have been very damaging for the sector. We say release the report and let the chips fall where they may."
The report Mr. Bartlett speaks of was an audit done by the JTB's chief internal auditor, Collin Greenland, at the behest of former Tourism Minister Portia Simpson Miller, into allegations of wrongdoing on the part of senior tourism officials employed to the JTB's New York office. The report was handed over to new tourism minister Aloun Assamba nearly two months ago. It paints, sources say, a damning picture of corruption, including the use of shell companies to milk the JTB out of millions of dollars by way of a billing scheme and over an extended period of time.
Several key industry players told The Gleaner on Tuesday that there was enough in the report "to bring about criminal indictments."
"I understand the Ministry wanting to be careful in its handling of the report, but yes, it does paint a rather disturbing picture," one source noted. "It shows the misuse and abuse of taxpayers money and the use of the JTB's time and resources to do outside jobs. There is also the shredding of and attempts to destroy evidence which could have exposed the JTB to US tax evasion laws."
Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Industry, Dr. Wykeham McNeill, said yesterday that the Ministry had certain policy guidelines which it had to follow, noting "it is not as simple as just releasing a report."
"Our Chairman (Dennis Morrison) is handling the matter," Dr. McNeill notes. "He is in consultation every step of the way with the Auditor-General, the Solicitor-General and members of the board. Our legal advisor has suggested the passing over of the report to a criminal lawyer which is what we have done...we are all about transparency but there are certain guidelines which must be followed."
Efforts to contact Auditor-General Adrian Strachan and Solicitor-General Michael Hylton yesterday were unsuccessful. Both were said to be in meetings.
Mr. Bartlett noted that "we have been seeing a trend lately where audits have been used to exonerate people...why not release this one and do away with all the suspense and drama."
He said the Opposition has already tabled a motion in Parliament requesting that the Tourism Minister "lay on the table the Greenland audit report and any other audited report that have been commissioned."
"We have also asked for a forensic auditing of all JTB offices across the world," he said. "It's now a public matter and the only way we can move forward is for us to address these pressing issues...as a country we must demand accountability from our representatives."
