Editorial | PS Spence’s nonsense

It is unlikely that Dermon Spence, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, is ignorant of the fiscal accountability obligations of public officials and the laws that govern those responsibilities.

So, we can only assume that Mr Spence’s whingeing plea before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week for leniency for employees who cannot account for thousands of bags of fertiliser donated to Jamaica by Morocco was performative: a show for his staff. For he could not have been serious, or genuinely believed, that this was the appropriate place to make the case; that he was the one to do it; or that he would have been perceived as pursuing the interests of taxpayers and ensuring accountability.

That having been said, on the evidence of how these things have played out in the past, including in the case of former acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Grace McLean, The Gleaner’s Editorial Board does not expect anything to come of Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis’ recommendation that the staff of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) face a nearly J$65-million surcharge for the unaccounted-for fertiliser. The matter will either be allowed to fall through the cracks or meander until it times out, if that is not already the case, because it has passed the statute of limitations.

The issue therefore demands a review of the accountability regime, including how, and the pace at which, it is enforced by the Ministry of Finance.

In that regard, perhaps the Office of the Auditor General should, in its annual reports, expand its section on recommended surcharges to include the outcomes of previous years’ recommendations and the basis of decisions. Additionally, the names of the officials being cited for breaches should be disclosed alongside recommendations for reimbursement.

poor accountability

Jamaica has had a cooperation agreement with Morocco since 2016, under which the North African country supplied agricultural inputs to the island as gifts, totalling 3,600 tonnes of fertiliser between 2019 and 2023. The commodities were effectively under the control of RADA, an agency that provides support and extension services to farmers.

The auditor general’s review of the programme was triggered by claims that some of the Moroccan fertiliser had turned up for sale in private farm stores, as well as poor accountability for thousands of tonnes of the product that were supposed to be distributed to farmers through members of parliament (MPs). The latter claim proved true.

“... RADA was unable to indicate whether the bags of fertiliser allocated to MPs were subsequently issued to the intended beneficiaries, as the required distribution lists were not provided by the MPs,” said a 2025 review of the programme by the auditor general.

Further, RADA failed to present “evidence that the beneficiaries of the fertiliser allocated to MPs were verified and received no more than the maximum two bags (50 kg each) of Moroccan fertiliser”, the report said.

This was, in part, the basis for the auditor general’s recommendation to the financial secretary, noted in Pamela Monroe Ellis’ 2025 annual report, of a J$64.66-million surcharge against the responsible public officials, in keeping with the requirements of the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAAA).

Among other breaches, the FAAA allows for the collection of a surcharge from the responsible public officer who “is or was responsible for any deficiency in, or for the loss or destruction of, any public moneys, stamps, securities, stores, or other government property”.

However, the agriculture ministry rejected the auditor general’s recommendation and, before the PAC last week, Spence blamed the MPs for the failure to account for the allocation of the fertiliser, rather than accept the audit report’s implication that the obligation rested with RADA officials.

He also essentially urged Pamela Monroe Ellis to amend her report. “I will indulge the auditor general, given all that is being explained here, to take a look back at the situation, and to understand that, in all fairness, it is a very difficult position to place the team members in when you are now creating fear and anxiety,” Spence said.

broader weaknessesApart from the absurdity of that ex post facto request, made during a parliamentary committee’s examination of the report, Spence failed to address the broader weaknesses in oversight of the Moroccan fertiliser programme uncovered by the auditor general’s audit team.

Indeed, inventory management was poor.

“On our visit to the warehouse facility in June 2024, we were unable to verify the fertiliser stock on hand due to haphazard storage, lack of spacing and safety concerns,” the report noted. “Additionally, the inventory records presented were not prepared on a perpetual inventory basis, showing receivals, distributions and balances.”

The FAAA states that “no such surcharge shall be made after the expiration of a period of three years from the date of such deficiency, loss or destruction, as the case may be”.

In the matter involving Dr Grace McLean and the claim that she caused the Government to make millions of dollars in unwarranted payments, the case ended because of the expiration of the limitation period.

On that basis, we will not hold our breath.