OCHO RIOS, St. Ann — The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, (JHTA) continues to express concern over the proposed merger of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCO).

The proposed changes which are part of Government’s public sector transformation programme, are also facing strong opposition from the People’s National Party (PNP), which has said the TEF should remain a separate entity.

Outgoing President of the JHTA, Wayne Cummings said the announced plan is extremely worrisome. He said when the TEF was established, it was clearly articulated that independent and transparent oversight was to be its hallmark.

“The Fund is not without its detractors, some who have always opposed its formation and many who support it, but seek to guard it in the hope for it to fulfil its mandate of implementing the Tourism Master Plan,” Cummings told the 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the JHTA in Ocho Rios, St Ann yesterday.

He said while change is inevitable and must be embraced, TPDCO — though vested with a lofty and idealistic mandate — is also government’s chosen implementing agency for every project of the TEF.

“The TPDCO will, without independent oversight, collect the TEF head tax, deliberate on how and where the money is spent, and, by extension, also provide the check and balance for themselves. By no stretch of imagination should this be a recommended route to take,” Cummings argued.

“We submit that this decision is a flawed one, which will further bring the TEF funds, TPDCO and the ministry of tourism into disrepute. From a fiduciary point of view, this planned change is a recipe for disaster and time still exists for us to come back from this precipice.”

Cummings’ concerns are also shared by the PNP’s spokesperson on tourism, Dr. Wykeham McNeill, who believes any merger of the two entities would raise serious questions regarding transparency and accountability.

“Whether you merge the two old ones (entities), whether you create a new one, it doesn’t matter. They must remain separate, and that is the position, it remains resolute, it is not a good move,” McNeill later told the Sunday Observer.

“Furthermore, even the reputation of the TEF, that it has been used for purposes that it shouldn’t have been used for, people have termed it almost a slush fund, you must have safeguards on it,” he said.

But tourism minister Edmund Bartlett, addressing yesterday’s AGM, said one entity would not subsume the other. Instead, he said, a new entity would be formed.

He did not reveal much about the merged entity, but said it would set the parameters for project delivery under the Tourism Master Plan.

Bartlett refrained from making a definitive pronouncement on the issue on Saturday, cautioning that it was inappropriate for any public comment to be made on the basis of hearsay without consultation.

However, he offered the assurance that government’s commitment to enabling a strong tourism product was without question. He warned against questionable pronouncements, which, he said, could have serious implications for the Jamaica’s tourism product globally.

However, this failed to appease McNeill who added added, “Somebody has to monitor how the money is being spent, if you merge the one who is collecting and the one who is spending who is going to provide any oversight, so it’s a real problem of governance, so it must be kept separate.”

The JHTA last night elected Evelyn Smith — general manager of the Tensing Pen Hotel in Negril — to lead the powerful tourism group. Smith replaces Wayne Cummings, who did not seek re-election.