Holness 'concerned' his income and assets declarations not certified

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he is "in the process" of responding to queries from the Integrity Commission about his income and assets.

His declarations for 2021 and 2022 have not been certified, which he said has left him "concerned".

Holness says he hopes to respond to the anti-corruption body "before the end of this week".

He was quizzed on the issue at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday morning. 

Last month, the Integrity Commission published the 2022 declaration for Opposition Leader Mark Golding and his family, showing that they raked in over $56 million in real estate income last year, a massive increase on the $800,000 earned under the same heading the previous year. 

Holness said he had previously responded to queries from the Integrity Commission but he said the agency later reached out with additional questions. 

"It does take some time and, particularly for me to get two or three days to go through matters and provide answers. I simply have to be very frugal with my time and I suspect the same for the Integrity Commission that has to go through several thousands of declarations," he said. 

"But, I would expect they would give some priority to my declaration." 

Noting that it is routine for the commission to make queries of public officials, Holness said he is "hopeful that in short order this matter will be resolved".  

All members of parliament and senators as well as public officials who earn a gross annual salary of $3.5 million and over are mandated by law to file annual declarations of their income, assets and liabilities.

The commission is mandated by the Integrity Commission Act to publish annually in the Jamaica Gazette a summary of the declarations filed by both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

The Opposition People's National Party and several civil society advocates and organisations have raised questions about the non-certification of the prime minister's declarations. 

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