Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Juliet Holness is seeking to clear the air regarding concerns raised at Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) regarding the Office of the Auditor-General (AG)

Holness, who is also a member of the PAC and Member of Parliament (MP), St. Andrew, East Rural on Tuesday (May 25) sought to set the record straight regarding issues raised at the PAC about the operations at the AG’s office with some committee members questioning, who is policing the office of the Auditor-General, which is charged with the mandate of policing government expenditures.

The AG Department and Auditor-General, Pamela Monroe-Ellis herself, have come under questioning and criticisms by some members of the PAC about her handling of affairs at the government financial watchdog agency.

Speaking at Tuesday’s PAC meeting, Deputy House Speaker Holness pointed out that “much has been said recently in these chambers, and I wish to ensure that the public understands that at the end of the day, our ultimate aim, is not to weaken the office of the Auditor General but to ensure that it is strengthened, through due process.”

‘Ensuring highest operations standards at AG’s Dept‘

She argued that it must not just be the AG’s Department that requires the highest operational standards from all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA’s), “but the Auditor-General Department itself must be the finest example by its own actions, of these very standards to which it holds others. We in this honourable house will ensure that it leads by example, and thereby provide us with excellent support in the maintenance of effective and efficient government  processes.”

Mrs. Holness, wife of Jamaica’s prime minister, highlighted that given recent events, she has come forward to provide a proper context so that things can be seen through the appropriate lenses, thus ensuring that the people of Jamaica are neither misled nor disillusioned. According to her, “the parliament, through the work of this (PAC) and other similar committees, has a duty to ensure the highest level of probity in the affairs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government.”

In this regard, particularly in respect of the PAC, the AG’s Department has a Constitutional duty to provide the objective reports and analysis to effectuate and enable this oversight function carried out by Parliamentary Committees. She made the point that he role and function of the Auditor General is understood, appreciated and respected by both sides of parliament, as an important part of Jamaica’s governance.

Continuing, Mrs. Holness said the Auditor General’s Chambers has come to be known as the beacon of prudence in government affairs, and has shone its light on several matters across MDA’s, thus holding Government officials and public servants to the highest standards of excellence in their operations. However, the Deputy Speaker noted that the question has however been asked repeatedly, ‘who will police the police’, or ‘who will watch the watchman’?

“As a result, and in response to these legitimate concerns, this Parliament, to whom the Auditor General’s Department reports, has a duty to ensure that the Department is beyond reproach, in order to ensure the integrity of the process over which this Parliament presides,” Mrs. Holness posited at today’s meeting of the PAC. For her, it is the people’s business that MP’s must ensure that the people’s business is given the highest regard, supported by due process and the most stringent standards of probity.

In so doing,Mrs. Holness made the point that, “the agents and agencies of Government tasked with guarding the integrity of these processes must  themselves be beyond reproach and this Parliament should always strive to ensure that this standard is vigorously defended above all else . This standard must be defended from private, personal or political interests from without and within, which could threaten the people’s business.”