Transformation Project gets $651 Million

A sum of $651 million has been allocated to the Strategic Public Sector Transformation Project in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

The project, which is being funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Government of Jamaica and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is aimed at strengthening public resource management and support for selected public sector institutions, in facilitating a more enabling environment for private sector growth.

Earmarked activities for this fiscal year include: the continuation of the design and implementation of the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS); and conducting public investment management stakeholder sensitisation workshops in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Other activities include supporting the process of investigating the viability of entities being considered for merger, contracting out, divestment or closure as appropriate, by conducting a detailed operational review; training of National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) staff; and beginning the preparation of Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) to offer ISO17020 accreditation.

Some of the achievements up to December 2015 included: the establishment of a Public Sector Management Committee, which convened its first meeting in May 2015; the hiring of a consultant firm for the implementation of medium term results based budgeting in Jamaica; and the training of staff of the new Compliance and Inspectorate Body to become certified inspectors.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.  The project, which started in August 2014, is slated to end in January 2020.