Speaker Holness accuses house clerk of ‘gross dereliction of duty’ regarding handling of Auditor General reports

Speaker of the House, Juliet Holness has accused Clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Valrie Curtis, of “gross dereliction of duty” in relation to the handling of reports submitted by the Auditor General's Department (AuGD).

In a letter to Curtis dated March 22, 20204, Holness claimed that the clerk's action brought the Parliament into disrepute.

The letter comes amid increasing public criticism of a ruling by the Speaker last November dealing with how reports from the Integrity Commission and the Auditor General will be treated.

Holness' letter is not very clear on the alleged action of Curtis, but she referred to several correspondence between the clerk and the Auditor General.

In referencing correspondence between the clerk and the Auditor General, Holness told Curtis that “the aforementioned references, underscore the point that subsequent reports received from the Auditor General, were in breach of the ruling made in the House of Representatives, on November 7, 2023. Additionally, your failure to adhere to the said ruling and applicable procedures, amount to gross dereliction of duty and as such, as brought the institution into disrepute”.

SEE FULL LETTER BELOW.

This latest development also comes following news last week that two Auditor General reports that were sent in December 2023 and January this year were returned to the Auditor General's Department for alleged failure to comply with the ruling of the House.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis told The Gleaner that she would be resubmitting the reports to Gordon House today.

In a statement on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang said “as of today” there were no outstanding reports from the Integrity Commission or Auditor General to be tabled in Parliament.

But Monroe Ellis later revealed to The Gleaner that two reports she sent to Parliament on December 28 and January 29 were returned by the parliamentary leadership to her department on Friday, which took the Auditor General's Department by surprised.

The first report, which is a special audit of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), was returned by Parliament to the AuGD 84 days, or nearly three months, after the report was sent to the legislature for tabling.

The second report, which is a special audit of Tax Administration Jamaica, was sent back to the AuGD 54 days, or nearly two months, after Parliament received the report for tabling.

The issue took on public attention after Opposition Leader Mark Golding last week Tuesday demanded the tabling of outstanding reports.

Contacted by The Gleaner this evening for a response to the letter, Curtis declined to comment, only stating, "I cannot respond to it until I've seen it. And when I've seen it, I'll think about it".

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