Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter
The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has spent close to $150 million in the last three years on motor vehicles for 40 of its 75 directors. At the same time, the central bank, which has a total staff complement of 492 at the end of February 2007, is paying out $41.6 million per annum in upkeep to the remaining 35 directors who opt not to be assigned a bank-owned vehicle.
The bank's policy allows a qualifying officer, "who owns a suitable vehicle", to take the maintenance money instead of being assigned a bank-owned vehicle. One director, who opted for the cash, is taking home close to $2 million dollars a year or $162,500 monthly for vehicle maintenance.
Ten BMWs, including a $6.4 million 5-series sedan and five other 'Bimmers' that cost more than $5 million each, five Mercedes Benzes and 23 sports utility vehicles (SUVs) paint a picture of pure opulence in the parking lot at Nethersole Place - home of the central bank.
Official documents obtained under the Access to Information (ATI) Act showed that approximately another $37.5 million, was spent by the BoJ between January 2001 and September 2006 to buy 20 vehicles and a motor cycle, which are designated pool vehicles. Thirteen of the 20 vehicles were bought between 2004 and 2006. This pushes the total expenditure to approximately $185 million for 60 motor vehicles and a Honda bike, with the only six of them being more than five years old.
Louise Brown, senior director in the Economic Information and Publications Department at the BoJ, told The Sunday Gleaner recently that the central bank would not be able to respond to questions seeking justification for the money spent to purchase the cars and the upkeep being paid to the other senior staff members who are not assigned a bank-owned vehicle.
Justifying the expenditure
"I am just not able to. I have so many other things doing. The information requested is not available today," Mrs. Brown said .
While not immediately justifying the expenditure, Mrs. Brown said that when the vehicles cost more than the bank's policy allows, the employees paid the excess. This is in keeping with the provisions under the bank's Senior Staff Motor Vehicle Policy. Mrs. Brown also pointed out that BoJ's employees do not enjoy concessionary rates enjoyed by certain public officials and that the Government's Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Policy does not govern the affairs of the central bank.
Among other things, the bank's motor vehicle policy document says that the Management Council of the BoJ designates the type of motor cars that should be assigned to qualifying officers. However, the senior officers are permitted, under certain conditions, to choose a vehicle outside of the reference car named by the Management Council. Additionally, contracts of employment with all employees in Levels 15 to 25 - which range from that of directors to that of the governor - impose a liability on the bank and confer a right on the employee for the provision of a vehicle.
"The eligibility/qualification of officers for the assignment of bank-owned motor cars is grounded in the bank's Senior Staff Motor Vehicle Policy and labour/management agreements and employment contracts entered into between the bank and such officers," said the bank in a written response.
The Senior Staff Motor Vehicle Policy requires that the officers who are assigned vehicles undertake the necessary maintenance. However, this is not done out of their pocket, as the central bank provides the directors with a fixed annual allowance to coverthe costs.
In comparison, a representative from the Public Relations Depart-ment of the Central Bank of Barbados told The Sunday Gleaner that only three employees - the governor and the two deputy governors - are entitled to be assigned a bank-owned vehicle. The Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados drives a Mercedes Benz while BMWs are assigned to her two deputies. The spokesperson revealed that no director at the Bridgetown-based central bank is assigned a bank-owned vehicle. The bank's website shows that it has 10 directors and eight deputy director positions.
Vehicle allowance
Meanwhile, Joylene Griffiths Irving, director of public, corporate and government affairs at the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) in Jamaica, said that BNS does not assign bank-owned vehicles to its senior staff members. That practice, she revealed, is a thing of the past at BNS, which has 28 senior officers and 42 branch managers across the island. "Scotiabank pays a motor vehicle allowance to staff (members) who qualify for such a benefit and they have the option to purchase their own vehicles. We do not have company-owned vehicles," said Mrs. Griffiths Irving, who is also executive director of the Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation.
On the other hand, Syretha Barr from the Group Marketing and Communications Division at the National Commercial Bank (NCB) told The Sunday Gleaner that the bank purchases vehicles for its managers and senior sales officers. Ms. Barr also noted that the NCB and its subsidiaries, which have more than 2,100 employees islandwide, which includes close to 150 managers, allowed approved employees and the assignee's spouse to drive these bank-owned vehicles. Both commercial banks declined to divulge any monetary information regarding salaries and payable allowances.
Weekly petrol allocation to vehicles assigned to senior staff:
Grades 15-16 - 69 litres
87 - $3,910.23
90 - $4,108.26
Diesel - $3,286.47
Grades 17-20 - 82 litres
87 - $4,646.94
90 - $4,882.28
Diesel - $3,905.66
Grades 21-24 - 91 litres
87 - $5,156.97
90 - $5,418.14
Diesel ?— $4,334.33
Annual allowances for maintenance and servicing:
Persons who are not assigned a bank-owned vehicle:
Grades 13-14 - $713,720
Grades 15-16 - $1,007,430
Grades 17-18 - $1,284,587
Grades 19-20 - $1,516,548
Grades 21 - $1,728,447
Grades 22-23 - $1,950,753
Persons who are assigned a bank-owned car:
Grades 15-16 - $280,951
Grades 17-18 - $354,018
Grades 19-20 - $411,417
Grades 21 - $450,753
Grades 22-24 - $500,497
Maximum payable for purchase of vehicle:
Grades 15-16 - $2.8 million
Grades 17-18 - $3.6 million
Grades 19-20 - $4.27 million
Grades 21 - $4.94 million
Grades 22-23 - $5.61 million
Grade 24 - $6.3 million
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com
