By Ravin Singh in Jamaica

THE University of the West Indies (UWI) on Wednesday issued a letter to Jamaica’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament (PAAC) stating that it is not answerable to the Parliament on how it spends Government subventions. The parliamentary committee which met on Wednesday morning, had invited UWI Mona, the University of Technology and the University Council of Jamaica to appear before the constitutional body that day.
The Gleaner,one of Jamaica’s local newspapers,has reported that parliamentary rules have empowered the PAAC to summon any entity that receives a subvention from Jamaica’s national budget, and request of that entity to provide a report on its expenditure.
Jamaica will contribute JMD$8.3B (US$64.7M) of taxpayers’ money to UWI this year which accounts for approximately 20 per cent to the annual budget of the university.
But during the sitting of the committee on Wednesday morning in the parliament chamber, UWI’s administration opted out and instead issued a letter to Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Education, Dr Maurice Smith to justify its refusal to reveal how funds from the public purse was spent.
The letter sought to suggest that the institution is a public, autonomous regional body to which Jamaica is only one contributor.
“The UWI is a public, autonomous regional educational institution which serves 17 countries in the Caribbean,” the letter stated.
As a result, the University’s Registrar, William Iton, in whose name the letter was issued, reasoned that UWI is not subjected to that provision of declaring its expenditure.
Dr. Smith, addressing the PAAC, said that the letter indicated that, “The university is neither a ministry’s department, it’s not a company, it’s not a public body, and as such, it does not regard itself as needing to participate in this process.”
This view was articulated in the letter based on a legal opinion UWI said was received from the Solicitor-General in 2007 that reportedly said the university was not a government entity or department.
UWI then went on to recommend in the letter that the PAAC source information on its expenditure from one of its parliamentary representatives on the committee responsible for examining finances at the institution. “(request information from) your representative on the Finance and General Purposes Committee.”
PAAC Chairman, Dr. Wykeham McNeil, who read the letter to the committee also weighed in on the issue, calling for greater accountability across the board.
“We believe that there needs to be more accountability… Expenditure made out of public funds must have scrutiny,” the chairman said. Having been faced with this situation, the PAAC indicated its intention to write the Attorney General to seek her advice on the matter, after which a recommendation will be made to Parliament on the way forward.