PRIME Minister Andrew Holness yesterday announced a new council (board) for the scandal-scarred Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

Holness told the House of Representatives that the 21-member council, which will be chaired by the current chairman of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), Professor Gordon Shirley, following on the issues raised by the auditor general in her special audit report, will need to move quickly to put in place the relevant subcommittees, including a new finance committee, with outside help, to streamline the financial operations.

“They will need to establish a governance committee as a subcommittee of the council and employ an enterprise risk management system, with a risk officer assigned, to ensure compliance with all the governance rules and governance best practices,” he explained.

“A risk and audit committee, responsible for reviewing the work of the internal auditor, will also need to be in place to determine what are the immediate threats, and the greatest threats, so she can prioritise her workflow,” he stated.

Holness said that these measures are in keeping with the auditor general’s recommendation for the CMU’s Council to establish “a robust internal control and risk management system to reduce the risk of losses and regulatory breaches”.

He added: “In response to this recommendation, directives have also been given for an internal auditor to be put in place, and an auditor has been seconded from the ministry and has commenced work.”

The new council will also include President of Port Handlers Limited Mark Hart; managing director of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica Rear Admiral Peter Brady; Donovan Stanberry, registrar of The University of The West Indies, Mona; Dr Therese Chambers, associate professor at the University of Technology, Jamaica; Dr Marshall Hall, chairman of the Jamaica Producers Association; and Grantley Stephenson, deputy chairman of Kingston Wharves Limited.

Also sitting on the new council will be: Professor Ibrahim Ajagunna, acting president of the CMU (ex officio); Professor Noel Brown, deputy to the president, CMU; Devon Gardner, university treasurer (ex officio); Kerry-Ann Tulloch, president, CMU Alumni Association (ex officio); Glenardo Simpson; president of the Students’ Union (ex officio); Dwain Powell and Belinda Ward (representing the PAJ); Peter McCarthy, representing the deans, CMU; Worrel Morrison; representing the administrative/technical staff, CMU; Professor Gossett Oliver, representing CMU professors, CMU; Donovan Perkins, director, Everything Fresh; Mitzie Gordon Burke- Green, president, Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica; and Kim Carke and Trevor Riley, representing the Shipping Association of Jamaica.

– Balford Henry