Editorial | Contortionists at transport ministry

Lerone Laing may well have Stephen Hawking’s IQ, dreams in astrophysics and the ability to decipher the world’s most complex economic equations. Which is the kind of contortionist argument the transport ministry is now attempting to not only justify its appointment of Mr Laing as managing director of the Toll Authority of Jamaica, but to discredit this newspaper for pointing out that he did not meet significant elements of the criteria it established for the job.

Indeed, the ministry felt that what the Toll Authority does is so critical, which it is, that the person who ran it should not only be academically qualified, but a seasoned leader with a substantial, and clearly established, track record in leadership. The Authority establishes and oversees the regulations for the operations of Jamaica’s tolled roads, of which there are two, the Chinese-owned North Coast Highway, and the now publicly listed TransJamaica Highway. It also approves the rates for travelling on those roads.

When the transport ministry advertised the CEO’s job, it required applicants to have a master's degree in business administration, or a relevant discipline, and at least a decade’s experience working in a senior management position, including in the operation of concession agreements or a major infrastructure facility. Someone with a first degree would be considered, but then that person would need to have at least 15 years' experience in a senior management position.

Mr Laing has a master’s degree in economics. But, as this newspaper has established and which has been refuted, up to the time of his appointment as CEO of the Toll Authority in April, Mr Laing had only three years operating in mid- to upper- management positions, including more than a year as acting CEO of the Authority. It is also to be noted that Mr Laing previously served as an advisor to the transport minister, Robert Montague.

Despite not having the management experience, Mr Laing, according to the transport ministry’s acting permanent secretary, Janine Dawkins, “was deemed suitable for assignment based on his qualifications, experience and skills/competencies”. Further, she noted, there were only 10 applicants for the advertisement for the job, of which two were shortlisted – Mr Laing and a person living overseas, who was eliminated because of the uncertainty of the tenure of the position, given the planned rationalisation of government agencies.

NUMBER OF ISSUES

There are a number of issues to note here.

First, the job advertisement appeared in a single issue of only one newspaper (not this one). That limited advertisement is surprising for a post on which the Government, given the experience and competencies demanded, obviously placed a high premium. Ms Dawkins, nonetheless, believed what was done was sufficient.

Second, it wouldn’t be illogical to ask how many more applications there might have been from people with higher degrees, even with the limited advertising, if the potential applicants didn’t need 10 or 15 years experience in senior management positions. Indeed, this requirement for experience for top positions, it is often pointed out, tends to work against young people, no matter how educated or talented they may be. In this case, perhaps, Mr Laing was probably in the right place and circumstance to benefit from the waiving of that requirement.

In the circumstances, the ministry’s attempt to vaporise the job’s initial requirement of substantial senior management experience – as was confirmed by Permanent Secretary Dawkins - is sheer revisionism and an effort contortion that is vulgarly ridiculous for senior public officials. Worse is the claim that this newspaper had compromised its credibility by reporting the facts.

Those officials would have served themselves better by admitting to the facts, even if that may have required just saying that Mr Laing was, from the start, the man for the job.