More questions surface over hiring of former PS

Sep 29, 2017 News

There are more questions now over the hiring of a former Permanent Secretary (PS) to head a unit which is the subject of an investigation by the police’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
George Jervis, the former PS of the Ministry of Agriculture, is now Director of the Agricultural Sector Development Sector Unit (ASDU).
ASDU is the same unit which is the subject of a probe focusing on monies that were paid out.
Six former officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) are in court following investigations that stemmed from a forensic audit into the operations of that entity, prior to May 2015.
ASDU is the Ministry of Agriculture unit that oversees foreign funded projects, into drainage and other projects to encourage exports and diversification. It had bank accounts at the ministry and at GRDB.
In 2012, Jervis was the PS of the Ministry of Agriculture when the GRDB used the ASDU Life Skills bank account to pay over $8M for the fixing of the office of former Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
Investigators are mystified how this happened as it is forbidden for one agency to fund the expense of another.
As the PS, Jervis should have known that it was wrong to do so.
The contract to fix Ramsammy’s Regent Road office should have been approved by the National Assembly as part of the Ministry’s budget.
The contract for the fixing of the office was awarded to one V.B. New Approach General Construction Inc., which is owned by political figure, Vishnu Bandhu.
In allowing that $8M payment to Bandhu, Jervis allegedly breached the country’s Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA), which governs how state monies are to be spent.
According to sources, the former PS was supposed to be charged with the six other GRDB officials but prosecutors did not agree with the recommendations of SOCU investigators and he was cleared and dropped from the list.
A few weeks ago, more than six months after Jervis was sent on leave to facilitate the SOCU investigation, he was hired to head a special department to oversee ASDU, right in the same ministry, with a one-year contract and a salary of US$5,000 monthly, plus housing, phone and other allowances.
According to documents seen by Kaieteur News, Jervis, a Permanent Secretary who served in consecutive administrations, was ordered by the Ministry of the Presidency to proceed on “all leave” with immediate effect on February 27, 2017.
On April 7, the Ministry of the Presidency again wrote Jervis advising him that the probe is still ongoing and that he is being sent on administrative leave.

Former PS, George Jervis

Former Agri Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

In early May, the Permanent Secretary (ag), Ministry of Agriculture, Joylyn Nestor-Burrowes, requested approval for filling a vacant position- Director of the Agricultural Sector Development Sector Unit (ASDU).
That unit, established in 2007, was in charge of a number of projects from foreign funding, There was no director in the unit after 2011.
In asking the Ministry of the Presidency to immediately fill the vacancy, the Agri. Ministry said that ASDU plays a critical role in managing government finance received from overseas donors and other financial institutions. “This can only be coordinated effectively and efficiently through a director or head of unit,” the ministry argued.
In late May, the Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, wrote to President David Granger, recommending that Jervis be appointed director of ASDU, a unit he once overlooked.
However, in early July, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Public Service, Reginald Brotherson, refused to approve the hiring of a director and instead asked that the Agriculture Ministry use its available personnel.
On August 8, President Granger approved the temporary appointment of Jervis, pending the successful search for a qualified person.
In early March, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon announced the reassignment of several Permanent Secretaries, a move he said, is aimed at ensuring efficiency and accountability in the public service sector. With effect from March 1, 2017, Joylyn Nestor Burrowes took up the post of Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, replacing Jervis.
The Coalition Government had ordered several forensic audits following its assumption to office in May 2015.
This was to determine the state of the agencies leading up to the elections. There were allegations of corruption at several state agencies.
Several of those audit reports have since been handed over to the police for investigations, including transactions of the Pradoville Two transactions, an exclusive seaside community near Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, which was sold at questionable costs to several high ranking officials and relatives of the previous administration.

1 thoughts on “More questions surface over hiring of former PS”

bl_666 September 29, 2017 at 2:57 pm

Never seen such perplexing determination to be a one term government.
Day after day after day stumbling in diminishing circles only to disappear we all know where.