Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr says the Ministry is nearing the completion of its annual internal audit to identify weaknesses in Ministry programmes and strengthen their effectiveness.

He noted that accountability is a matter that his portfolio takes seriously and has assured that the necessary steps have been put in place to reduce corruption.

Charles Jr was addressing recent comments about a fraud probe at the Ministry. Allegations are that internal auditors at the Ministry are looking into what is believed to be a scheme that was used to defraud millions of dollars from the National Insurance Scheme.

“The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is not involved in any probe of fraud as it relates to the NIS. However, we’re living in a world where we must be able to uplift and hold up transparency and accountability.

“For that reason, we took very serious note of the comments that were made, and I think it is important to note that we have opened up and welcomed any examination that is required to ensure that Jamaica is clear as to where we are in terms of the two issues. [The first], the fact that there is no probe that the Ministry is now involved in and [second] that any potential or possible matter of fraud or any activity which is untoward is something that we take seriously and that we would be examining,” said Charles Jr.

He added that the Ministry has robust mechanisms to ensure that if there is an incident, it can be identified and addressed.

– Send feedback to [email protected]