Gov’t Strengthening Accountability and Transparency – PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says the Administration continues to strengthen its governance structure to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

Addressing the opening ceremony for the International Conference on Strengthening Legislative Oversight for Fostering Accountability and Sustainable Growth at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on Tuesday (June 2), Mrs. Simpson Miller said the aim is to enhance the efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness of the public sector.

Among the measures is improving the monitoring of budget-funded public bodies by enforcing the time limit for submission of financial statements by the relevant public bodies to the Auditor General.

“We are also bolstering the capacity within the Auditor General’s office for more in-depth and frequent reviews of these statements,” she said.

Mrs. Simpson Miller further informed that the Office of the Auditor General is to be strengthened and the Office of the Contractor General is being given attention in terms of accepting and responding to its resource needs and mandate.

“We are (also) strengthening the capacity of Parliament to undertake its oversight responsibility including oversight of public finances,” she said.

She pointed out that the improvement in the administration of public finances in Jamaica includes “drastically” reducing red tape and improving the country’s business environment to facilitate investments and economic growth.

Mrs. Simpson Miller further noted that under the country’s Economic Reform Programme, the Government has adopted a modern, accountable and effective Central Public Financial Management System.

“The Economic Reform Programme, which we are pursuing and to which the Government remains firmly committed, is based on the solid platform of proper financial management. We are committed to sustainable debt reduction and are giving emphasis to targeted investment in economic growth-inducing activities,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said.

These areas, she said, include agriculture, agro-processing, tourism product development and marketing, education and technical training, as well as investments in the modernisation of economic infrastructure such as the highways, airports and seaports.

“The structural reforms we are undertaking will further enhance fiscal transparency and accountability. In this regard, we have strengthened legally binding rules. These enhanced rules give Parliament greater responsibility to monitor fiscal transparency and to ensure a sustainable budgetary balance in order to lock in the structural adjustment gains,” she said.

She noted that effective public financial management is also ensuring a pattern of taxation and public expenditure that is supportive of greater private-sector competitiveness in an increasingly globalised economy.

To be held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel from June 2 to 4, the conference is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Parliaments in the Caribbean to carry out their oversight of public expenditure.

It will provide direct technical advice and support to members of the principal financial oversight committees.

The conference is being hosted by the Houses of Parliament, in partnership with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, ParlAmericas, and Inter-American Development Bank.

Participants will include parliamentarians, experts on legislative oversight issues, Supreme Audit Institutions and professional accountancy bodies from Jamaica and overseas.

At the end of the three days, participants are expected to affirm the Declaration for Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight, Audit Institutions, and Audit and Accounting Standards.