Finance ministry reviewing surcharge against Bernard, McLean
Published:Tuesday | November 2, 2021 | 12:10 AM
The auditor general’s recommendation that a surcharge be instituted against Dean-Roy Bernard, the in-limbo permanent secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, and acting PS Dr Grace McLean is being reviewed by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
Financial Secretary Darlene Morrison told The Gleaner last Friday that the ministry was in the process of examining the findings of the auditor general’s report on the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education (JCTE).
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis made the recommendation in her report to Parliament on the allegation that both senior officials at the education ministry had failed in their fiduciary duty.
With the Ministry of Education unable to account for how $124 million in taxpayers’ money was spent by the Cecil Cornwall-chaired JCTE, the auditor general had also proposed that Education Minister Fayval Williams ask the police or an anti-corruption agency to further investigate the matter.
Williams has since called in the Financial Investigation Division and the Major Organised Crime and Anti Corruption Agency (MOCA) to conduct a probe into the matter.
“The MOEYI remains fully committed to cooperating with the AuGD, FID, and MOCA to facilitate all necessary investigations in keeping with the principles of transparency and accountability,” Williams said in a terse statement in mid-October.
Bernard is currently involved in a court battle with the Government after he was transferred from his substantive post as PS to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, while McLean has been asked to take leave to allow for investigators to carry out their work unhindered.
Maureen Dwyer has been installed as PS in the interim.