File
Viralee Latibeaudiere now confirmed as commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department.
Viralee Latibeaudiere, who has been acting as commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department since May, has been confirmed in the post, says Finance Minister Audley Shaw.
He also announced that the position of financial secretary would be filled this week.
Latibeaudiere replaces Gay Mitchell, who worked for three decades in most areas of the tax system.
Until recently, Latibeaudiere, who comes to the position with 28 years of service, was a deputy director of the Tax Administration and Assessment Department.
Shaw, speaking Thursday at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce seventh annual customs seminar, said the appointment of Latibeaudiere and Danville Walker as commissioner of customs was part of his plan to improve tax compliance.
Latibeaudiere should be at ease in the post having served as acting commissioner for a year between 2006 and 2007.
Improving procedures
According to inside sources, she has been credited for improving procedures and systems to enhance revenue collection.
Meanwhile, Shaw said the new financial secretary would be named within a matter of days. Pressed by The Sunday Gleaner as to who were the candidates considered for the post, Shaw responded: "That is the work of the Public Services Commission, I can't say."
Earlier on though, Shaw disclosed that the Public Services Commission had conducted interviews with potential candidates and that the appointment would be made public in a matter of days.
The post of financial secretary became vacant following the departure of Collin Bullock who was not retained in the post due to what sources say was an uneasy relationship with his boss, Audley Shaw.
Darlene Morrison, deputy financial secretary for economic management, has been acting in the post since May, when Bullock departed. Bullock was seconded to the Finance Ministry in May 2005 to succeed Shirley Tyndall, the long-serving financial secretary, who retired after 46 years in the public sector.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
