OUR budgets $27m for travel

The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) plans to spend $27 million on foreign travel for its director general and staff over the next three years, according to its budget released early January.



The OUR has defended the foreign travel budget, indicating that it was a necessary investment in its staff. Last year, the utilities regulator came under public pressure when its travel budget was revealed.



The new budget document indicates that the OUR plans to spend on travel $8.6 million for 2012/13, $9.1 million for 2013/14 and $9.6 million for the 2014/15 fiscal year.



The travel budget for 2012/13 represents less than two per cent of the utilities regulator’s total allocation of $532 million.



Contacted, the OUR declined to comment and instead referred The Gleaner to a statement issued last year, which indicated that the trips were geared towards training staff.



Jamaica serves in leadership positions in international regulatory bodies, including the Organisation of Caribbean Utility Regulators (OOCUR) and the Natural Gas Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).



Said the statement: "The OUR is a knowledge-based organisation. Its biggest asset is its staff that is required to be better qualified than the staff of utilities it regulates. They must at all times be at the cutting edge of the technology and international best practices.



"It is also the case that very often the expertise and resources to conduct training is found outside of Jamaica and the region and so there is a need to travel. In this regard, from inception, a significant component of the OUR’s budget has been devoted to training and associated international travel expenses.”



The OUR receives project financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank and on occasion interacts with the appropriate managers at the international headquarters in the United States through face to face meetings or teleconferencing.



The OUR avoided revealing what portion of its 53 staff would attend those functions.



Last year, an OUR advertisement indicated that $13 million was spent from February 2009 to August 2011 for its representatives to attend foreign meetings. Just over $4 million of that amount was paid as per diem to staff members, and approximately $6 million was spent on overseas training during the 31-month period.



Under the law, the OUR is financed by a cess on the entities it regulates, including the JPS, LIME, Digicel and Claro.



The OUR is mandated to regulate the provision of prescribed utility services by licensees or specified organisations and to ensure that the needs of consumers are met.



steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com