Work Under Way to Operationalise the Public Bodies Management Regulations

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has been working to institute mechanisms to operationalise the Public Bodies Management and Accountability (Nomination, Selection and Appointment to Boards) Regulations.

The Regulations represent a seminal tool towards achieving good corporate governance in respect of public bodies.

Public bodies in Jamaica are responsible for $466 billion of expenditure in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, said the mechanisms, at the outset, require a database of prospective directors to be put in place.

“[This] allows any Jamaican who feels that they have the competence to serve their country in the capacity of a public body Board Director to nominate themselves for service. It also allows current directors to nominate themselves for inclusion in the database. It allows professional bodies, the legal profession, to nominate persons, as well, and it also allows political parties to nominate persons for inclusion in the database,” he said.

The Minister was speaking during the Public Bodies Corporate Governance Awards ceremony at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, on Thursday (December 1).

Dr. Clarke indicated that the Ministry has engaged consultants, adding that the electronic application form for inclusion in the database of prospective directors is expected to be ready and available online in January 2023.

“If you are not in that database, you will not be eligible to serve on a Board of a public body. So, all current directors are encouraged, as soon as the application forms become available online, to put your information in… to apply for inclusion in the database,” he said.

“We will have a period of engagement with professional bodies, with entities that are eligible to submit applications, to make sure they are aware of how the system works, so that we can build a powerful database of persons who have a range of professional, technical, social, [and] volunteer experience from whom Boards, in the not-too-distant future, can be formed. This will be an amazing change for Jamaica,” the Minister added.

Dr. Clarke contended that this reform exercise changes the way in which persons are selected and appointed to public bodies and makes the process more transparent.

“If we have a Jamaica where only people who know people can serve their country by serving on a Board, it dissolves public trust, and that’s how we have been operating for decades,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Clarke congratulated the public bodies receiving awards during the ceremony.

“We [have] to take time out of everyone’s business schedule to recognise the achievements of public bodies in the critically important area of governance,” he stated.

The National Health Fund (NHF) received the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Award for Best Website; the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) received the JSE Award for Best Annual Report, while the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Award for Most Improved Public Body went to the Port Authority of Jamaica.

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Award for Risk Measurement and Internal Controls went to the NHF; the Ann Marie Rhoden Award for Compliance and Disclosure of Information was presented to the Office of Utilities Regulations; the Financial Secretary’s Award for Corporate Governance Policies, Procedures and Practices went to the NHF and the Finance Minister’s Award for Board Composition, Functions and Structure went to the FCJ, which also copped the Greta Bogues Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance.

The Public Bodies Corporate Governance Awards were created to foster a culture of adherence and awareness of the principles of good governance.

They are also intended to further incorporate improvements in the standard of corporate governance disclosure.

The initiative was launched in November 2016, with the inaugural presentation of awards taking place in December 2017, in partnership with the PSOJ.