Former managing director to haul Transport Authority before the court
Published:Wednesday | November 15, 2023 | 12:10 AM
A legal battle is brewing between the Transport Authority (TA) and its former managing director, Willard Hylton, who is taking the entity to court to obtain gratuity payments amounting to $4.3 million that the state body has not paid over to him.
Ralston Smith, the TA’s current managing director, told members of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday that the entity withheld the gratuity payment for Hylton based on a recommendation by the auditor general that $11.5 million should be recovered from the former head of the agency.
In keeping with Section 20 of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, the TA should seek to recover the improper payment of approximately $11.5 million paid in March 2020 to the then managing director who commenced his tenure in December 2020 that resulted from the winding up of his previous employment arrangements.
COURT MATTER
At a meeting of the PAC on Tuesday, Smith revealed that Hylton’s attorney had served notice that the matter would be taken to court to recover the gratuity payments due to the former managing director.
Smith said the TA had received two letters dated December 23, 2022 and January 10, 2023 from the attorney on the matter.
Carol Palmer, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, told the committee that she was awaiting guidance from the Attorney General’s Chambers to determine the agency’s next steps.
Hylton was appointed acting managing director of the TA on December 1, 2020, having served previously as manager of the Northern Regional Office and general manager of human resources and administration of the transport regulatory body.
According to the June 2023 special report, on March 1, 2020, the TA made payment of approximately $11.5 million to a contract officer who was purportedly terminated.
It said the termination letter did not set out the reason for separation, but instead indicated that the decision was based on discussions with the then board chairman, Joseph Shoucair.
However, the auditor general said her department was aware that Hylton, at the time of his termination on December 31, 2019, had already signed an employment contract on December 23, 2019 with Jamaica Ultimate Tyre Company Limited (JUTCL) as general manager, with an effective start date of January 1, 2020.
The auditor general found that Shoucair authorised that payment be made to Hylton for a time not served on the contract (general manager – human resource and administration), at a sum amounting to approximately $11.5 million.