Comedy of errors
Published:Thursday | June 6, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Last Tuesday, I watched the online strèaming of the sitting of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which, in part, dealt with the auditor general’s report on the Mandeville Tax Office replacement project being undertaken by Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ). Listening to some of the responses of the TAJ bureaucrats to questions posed by PAC members, I was reminded of a conversation to which I was privy when I served in the military many years ago. A junior officer was reprimanded by his superior for exceeding his authority. After administering a tongue-lashing, the senior officer enquired of his subordinate what he had to say for himself. “Sir, it was a comedy of errors’’ he replied, to which his superior retorted, “Yes, I agree, and you were the chief clown.”
The TAJ has so far spent J$255 million on rent for a yet-to-be-occupied building; and with the rental contract having another 20 years or so remaining, it means another J$1.7 billion for rent over those years on a building which the Government does not own. Additionally, the TAJ bureaucrats, during the PAC meeting, nonchalantly stated that another J$1 billion is projected for retrofitting what is a privately owned building. Listening to all these huge sums being banded about, and the manner in which this whole process has been handled, as stated in the auditor general’s report, one could not help but consider this whole sordid affair as a comedy of errors, with several protagonists. By way of comparison, the new police divisional headquarters being built in Westmoreland is costing J$2.7 billion and when it is done, the Government of Jamaica will own this building.
The auditor general’s representatives who appeared at this same PAC meeting highlighted that in their report , they stated that some decisions were driven by a desire to expedite this project. More than three years later, it is self-evident that this approach has achieved no such thing and is a grave and costly error.
The government bureaucrats from Tax Administration Jamaica who appeared before the PAC were questioned on the absence of a cost-benefit analysis or an estimate for the project. The preamble to the answer that was given was both shocking and laughable. “There are things we did not necessarily document…”. Really!!! Is this how we run government, by word of mouth? What of the qualified civil engineers, land surveyors, real estate managers that the Government currently employs? Why was their expertise not utilised?
In my layman’s opinion, before proceeding further with the Mandeville Tax Office replacement project, there needs to be a proper cost-benefit and technical analysis of this very important project. Additionally, those who have presided over this bureaucratic mess should be removed from the decision-making process. The minister of finance needs to step in and put a stop to this clowning around with taxpayers’ money by government bureaucrats.
ALWYN K. GREGORY