Young Jamaica, the youth arm of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has described as barefaced and disingenuous a statement issued by Opposition Spokesman on Health and Wellness, Dr Alfred Dawes, in which he sought to attribute ministerial oversight failures to what the Auditor General has clearly identified as operational breaches at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

Young Jamaica notes the findings of the Auditor General and welcomes the decision of the Ministry of Health and Wellness to establish an institutional review committee to address the governance and accountability gaps uncovered during the performance audit of UHWI.

The organisation further acknowledges that the Government of Jamaica holds a minority of appointments on the UHWI Board of Directors, with the majority comprising independent members, and reiterates that it has been the consistent policy of the Ministry to insist on accountability, probity, and transparency in the administration of public institutions.

Additionally, Young Jamaica welcomes the decision of the UHWI Board of Directors to engage the Police Fraud Squad to probe reports that private companies benefited from the inappropriate use of UHWI’s tax-exempt status, an alleged manoeuvre which the Auditor General has indicated resulted in the State losing approximately $23 million in revenue.

In this context, Young Jamaica is demanding that Dr Dawes come clean with the Jamaican people by clarifying whether a company owned by a People’s National Party (PNP) parliamentarian is among the beneficiaries identified in the Auditor General’s report as having improperly benefited from UHWI’s tax-exempt status in breach of Jamaican law.

The organisation is also calling on Dr Dawes to state whether he has ever been a founding member or partner of a company owned by a fellow PNP parliamentarian that is allegedly among the entities referenced in the audit, and whether he has at any time had any professional association with the entity in question.

Young Jamaica has further described Dr Dawes’ call for independent oversight of UHWI operations as a slap in the face of the intelligence of the Jamaican people, and as confirmation of his willingness to squeeze political mileage from serious matters of public accountability.

Young Jamaica reiterates its support for the Auditor General’s findings and insists that all follow-up investigations must be allowed to proceed without political interference, and that accountability must prevail wherever the facts may lead.