Weekly Round-up: Damning Petrojam audit… Teenage boy kills mother… Gayle wins defamation payout
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The controversy surrounding State-owned oil refinery Petrojam drastically deepened this week, following the release of a report by the Auditor’s General Office on Tuesday regarding the refinery’s operations and that of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica.
The findings, which were tabled in the House of Representatives, revealed high levels of unaccountable oil losses, instances of management overriding procurement guidelines, poor management of capital investment projects and consultancy arrangements, inconsistent recruitment and employment practices, and inadequate oversight and monitoring of Petrojam operations by the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology.
By Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Andrew Holness described the damning report as a watershed moment for transparency and accountability in Jamaica, adding that the Government will act on the recommendations.
On the crime scene, the Bethel Town police in Westmoreland are probing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 44-year-old woman who was allegedly stabbed to death and her throat slashed by her teenage son on Wednesday night.
In sport, West Indies cricket star Chris Gayle Monday won a US$221,000 payout from an Australian media group which claimed he exposed his genitals to a massage therapist in a dressing room at the 2015 World Cup in Sydney.
Watch as OBSERVER ONLINE wraps this week for you.
See story links below:
Auditor general’s full report on Petrojam
Auditor general uncovers corrupt practices, nepotism at Petrojam
Auditor general finds ‘explicit acts of nepotism’ at Petrojam
Auditor general wants Corporate Governance Framework for all public bodies
Ministry’s oversight of Petrojam could be improved, says auditor general
Follow the money, prosecute guilty officials in Petrojam debacle, urges PNP
13 gangs to face court next year, says top cop
Strategy to deal with ‘lef or write’ coming, says police commissioner
Bomb scare shuts down Falmouth
Seventh suspected suicide recorded in Manchester
Chang, Johnson Smith condemn murders of returned Jamaicans
Chang pinpoints domestic dispute in murders of returning residents
Body of returned resident found in shallow grave
Body found believed to be that of missing UK/ St Elizabeth woman
Sibling stumped as 13-y-o brother questioned in mom’s murder
Chris Gayle awarded US$221,000 in defamation payout
Williams describes performance in Bangladesh Tests as shameful
