Factories Corporation Cops 2022 Corporate Governance Award

The Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) Limited is the 2022 recipient of the coveted Greta Bogues Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance, unseating three-time winner, the National Health Fund (NHF).

The FCJ also copped the Finance Minister’s Award for Board Composition, Functions and Structure and a Special Award for the Best Annual Report, at the fifth staging of the Public Bodies’ Corporate Governance Awards ceremony held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Thursday (December 1).

Managing Director of the FCJ, Dr. Donald Farquharson, said the entire organisation is elated.

“The FCJ is just 126 staff members and I think we have been striking above our weight class,” he said, noting that the awards are the result of transformational change at the entity.

“There is just tremendous success, so, the governance awards that concluded in us being the top public-sector agency in the country is just big. I want to big up my staff because they have been the hard workers, both the field service staff and the back office staff. So as Managing Director I am very, very proud,” he said.

Second and third place for the Greta Bogues Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance were the NHF and the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank), respectively, while National Housing Trust (NHT) and the EX-IM Bank were selected as the second and third runners-up for the Finance Minister’s Award for Board Composition, Functions and Structure.

In his keynote address, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, underscored the importance of the Public Bodies’ Corporate Governance Awards.

“The reason why we persist with this is that what gets measured gets done. We take time out to recognise the achievements of public bodies and the critically important areas of governance. Public bodies are responsible for $466 billion of expenditure in this fiscal year, across 146 public bodies,” the Minister noted.

The annual event is a collaborative initiative between the Ministry and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).

It is geared towards identifying and rewarding public bodies that have established high standards of corporate governance disclosure and practices.

President of the PSOJ, Keith Duncan, said that the partnership between the entities continues to bear meaningful fruit.

“It’s important that our society implements robust systems of governance critical to transparent and efficient operations. I believe it is important that we recognise the efforts made by each entity that has submitted their governance processes for scrutiny and assessment. You are all champions in elevating the bar for good governance in Jamaica,” Mr. Duncan said.

Other presentations included a Dedicated Award for Corporate Governance, Policies, Procedures and Practices and Risk Measurement and Internal Controls that went to the NHF.

The entity was also recognised as having the best website, and the Port Authority of Jamaica was named the most improved public body.

The Compliance and Disclosure of Information Award went to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).