Why hold the money?

Director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) Commander Alvin Gayle was on Tuesday unable to explain why a financial services institution (FSI) was allowed to hold onto Hurricane Melissa donations for up to 45 days when there was no formal agreement in place that would allow this to happen. All the funds have since been received by ODPEM and the arrangement is now being revisited. The revelation was made as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined the auditor general’s report into the financial management of cash donations received following the Category 5 storm.

The issue arose during the committee’s examination of one of the report findings, which noted that donated funds had been retained by the FSI without a formal agreement governing the retention arrangement. The report found that while a merchant agreement existed between ODPEM and the institution processing online donations through the Government’s Support Jamaica platform, there was no formal agreement specifically addressing the retention of funds. MPs expressed concern that the FSI had proposed retaining a significant portion of donations despite there being no documented arrangement setting out how much could be withheld or for how long.

PAC Chairman Julian Robinson sought an update from Gayle on the status of the arrangement, asking where discussions stood regarding formalising the agreement. “I think we should be able to conquer this issue in just under a month,” Gayle responded, adding that the funds which had prompted the Auditor General’s concern had since been lodged into ODPEM’s accounts and that discussions were continuing on the outstanding issues. The discussion prompted Member of Parliament for Hanover Western Heatha Miller-Bennett to seek clarification on whether a formal agreement had since been executed with the financial services institution.

In response, Gayle drew a distinction between the agreement governing the processing of donations and the issue before the committee. Heatha Miller-Bennett, Member of Parliament for Hanover Western, addresses Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee at Gordon House. “There was always a formal agreement with the FSI.

There was never a formal arrangement concerning the retention of funds,” he clarified. He said negotiations were now focused on that specific aspect and could resul…