The Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Department of Culture, Youth and Sports told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday that there was a breach of policy in the hiring of 50 employees by the department in 2015.
PS Melissa Tucker appeared before the committee yesterday, where she was questioned by member Nigel Dharamlall about the procedures employed in the hiring of 55 employees by the ministry, as there was no evidence of advertisements.
“An examination of fifty-five new employees’ personal files for the period under review revealed that there was no evidence that the vacancies filled at the Synthetic Track and other departments under the ministry were advertised. In addition, certificates of character and references were not seen,” it was reported in the Auditor General’s (AG’s) 2015 report.
Questioned by PAC Chairman Irfaan Ali on whether she believed a breach had occurred, Tucker stated that she did believe there was a breach as it related to 50 of the employees as only five of them had been approved by the Public Service Commission.
According to the response provided by the ministry to the AG’s queries, Cabinet had granted approval for 10 of the officers, the Public Service Department had approved 40 and the Public Service Commission had granted approval for the other five.
Tucker was asked by Dharamlall to supply the total salaries for these employees, which the PS promised to do. She also committed to providing a list of the locations where these officers are employed, following an enquiry made by PAC member Volda Lawrence.
The AG’s report for 2015, which is being considered by the PAC, also says that while the National Estimates show that the Department was authorized to have 291 employees, in 2015, there were 294 employees on its payroll.
Responding to this yesterday, Tucker stated that checks showed that there were two staff over the limit, rather than three as had been reported.
Those persons are employed in the capacities of Sports Organiser and Senior Training Officer.
She confirmed that no ads had been placed for the positions, but related that recommendations had been submitted to the PSC and the Public Service Department had approved the appointments, although she could not state who had made the recommendations.
Tucker was reassigned from the Ministry of Legal Affairs in March to function as PS of the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Former PS of the department, Alfred King, who now functions as the PS of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, accompanied her yesterday during the department’s attendance at the PAC hearing.
