Kingston.
Opposition Parliamentarian Everald Warmington today walked out of a meeting of
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) claiming he felt insulted
by a team from the Education Ministry which could not adequately respond
to questions raised.
Elaine Foster-Allen, the Permanent Secretary in the Education
Ministry and her team, were appearing before the PAC to address concerns
raised by the Auditor General in a January report.
In the report, the Auditor General revealed that up to March 31 last
year, 212 bonded teachers owed the Government $410 million after
failing to honour the terms of their bonds.
According to Warmington, it was not the first time that Government officials were attending the PAC ill-prepared.
He urged PAC chairman, Audley Shaw, to end the sitting with the
Education Ministry officials and mandate that they return another time.
Shaw did not accede and soon after Warmington walked out.
However, Shaw ordered that in two weeks, Foster-Allen should submit a Special Report into the operations of the entire system.
Foster-Allen has said interest costs is accounting for the majority
of the $410 million owed and Shaw has asked a representative of the
Finance Ministry to review the current 25 percent interest rate.
Foster-Allen who was appointed Permanent Secretary in late last year, says through the establishment of a bond committee, steps were
taken to recover the money.
She also said a legal review process has been initiated.
Edmund Bartlett, another member of the PAC told the meeting he was not satisfied that enough was
being done to recover the money and questioned the absence of a profile
on delinquent teachers.
