KINGSTON, Jamaica — People’s National Party (PNP) spokesperson on tansport and works, Mikael Phillips, is calling on Prime Minister Andrew Holness in his capacity as Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, to immediately appoint a Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ).

In a statement today, Phillips noted that the Port Authority is operating without a chairman since March 2018, when the then chairman, Dr Nigel Clarke, resigned to enter representational politics.

Phillips said it was poor governance and perhaps a breach of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act for such an important regulatory and development authority to be left without a chairman for such a long period of time.

He reasoned that it is far worse at this time because the PAJ is a critical partner in the development the Logistics Hub, special economic zones, expanded port facilities, and buildings to accommodate new capacity for the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry.

“All these developments involve the expenditure of billions of dollars, including loan funds where proper oversight is required,” he said.

The PNP spokesman said the failure to appoint a new chairman is yet another indication that many important matters are being lost in the large and unwieldy Ministry of Economic Growth.

He said it was also more evidence that the prime minister could not possibly provide appropriate ministerial oversight for the huge number of departments, agencies and other critical public bodies which are included in this amalgamated portfolio headed by him.