MINISTER of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange yesterday launched a scathing broadside against Opposition spokesperson Lisa Hanna
for what she said were untrue and damaging comments made by Hanna in the House of Representatives on Tuesday about expenditure for the ‘Jamaica 55’ celebrations, and the work of the main organiser, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).
Hanna was making her contribution to the 2017/18 sectoral debate.
The two members of parliament (MPs) have been at loggerheads for some time now, most recently over expenditures under Hanna’s watch for ‘Jamaica 50’ celebrations. The latest row comes in the midst of a brow-raising report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, from a probe carried out by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) into ‘Jamaica 50’ expenditures.
Grange, who was not originally scheduled to speak yesterday, called Hanna’s statements, which hinted at corruption, “a big fat lie”. The minister argued that the $440 million which Hanna had referred to as having been allocated to the ministry for Heritage Week 2017, and only $60 million earmarked out of that for the JCDC, had in fact been fully allocated to the JCDC for national events and the promotion of cultural activities.
“Not one penny of that is to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport,” she emphasised, pointing out further that, “$200 million is included for Jamaica 55 projects, but that is programmed in the JCDC vote. What that means is that the JCDC is the executing agency. The agency controls the money… ministries do not award themselves random budgetary allocations. The Cabinet approved the $200 million to the Jamaica 55 programme due to the nature and likely returns on investments of the indicative legacy projects which we presented.”
Said Hanna on Tuesday: “Where has the rest of the $440 million gone? For those of you who might have missed it, there is an obscure note to the estimates of expenditure reserving $200 million of the $380 million remaining specifically for Jamaica 55.” She, at the same time, questioned the reason for the establishment of a ‘Jamaica 55’ secretariat.
Grange, meanwhile, noted that the expenditure on the 2016 Grand Gala was $62.5 million, not $65 million as Hanna had indicated.
And she vehemently rejected Hanna’s suggestions that the JCDC is being bypassed by the Jamaica 55 secretariat, and in favour of personal consultants.
“It is inconceivable that I, who was there at its conception, inception, and growth over the years could now seek to undermine it,” the minister told the House, while defending the need for a secretariat. “The roll-out of a major national programme such as Jamaica 55 demands tremendous back-office logistical and administrative services; it is not about taking away anything; it is about supporting. The establishment of the secretariat went through all the required steps, including Cabinet approval,” said Grange.
At the same time, the culture minister described the categorisation of the board of the JCDC by Hanna as suffering from “money mek fi spend virus”, in relation to their increased fees, as disrespectful. “They are not money grabbers,” Grange said, pointing out that the finance ministry, which sets fees, had effected a new fee schedule for the boards of all public bodies, effective last April.
The culture minister also insisted that her ministry usually sticks to the Government’s procurement guidelines, pointing to Hanna’s claims that an external consultant had been engaged as artistic director for last year’s Grand Gala at a cost of $15 million, without negotiation.
Grange further pointed out that under Hanna’s watch production company Jambiz was hired for $70 million to execute the grand gala, and accused the South East St Ann MP of usurping a number of the JCDC’s functions, and in 2013 producing one of the country’s worst grand galas in decades.
Hanna stood her ground in the face of Grange’s recrimination, stating that she had proof to substantiate her statements about the engagement of the contractor.
The heated debate was quashed after House Speaker Pearnel Charles intervened on a point of order.