HIGHGATE, St Mary — Saying he has no problem with being labelled an informer, Port Maria Mayor Richard Creary has expressed concern that a dead man was almost paid for work under the State’s Lengthman Programme and called for an immediate fix to the loophole in the system that allowed this to happen.

He heard of the issue, he said, during a recent meeting to discuss the programme.

“Every other month a person receives a sum of money to maintain a particular parochial road. We heard at that strategic meeting that what the works overseers would do is let that person sign for six months or for a year,” explained Creary, who is councillor for the Richmond Division and was elected on the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s ticket.

“So, what happens is that at times no work is done but because the contracts are pre-signed, then it is just submitted and payments made. Now, I pointed it out there and I am raising it here. That must cease immediately,” said the mayor.

He was speaking during Thursday’s meeting of the St Mary Municipal Corporation where he proudly declared, when discussing the issue, that he was “the biggest informer in St Mary, for those who never know”.

While the error was caught in time and payment not made, Creary said, checks and balances should have ensured that an invoice was not submitted. The current system, he warned, “creates room for corruption”.

His concern, he said, was that in situations like these it was often politicians who get a bad rap.

“You know what is hurtful in these matters, I am here raising these matters and the next thing you are going to hear is that — if any external labellings come to an audit — you know who is going to get the blame, me as chairman, and the politicians. We have a tendency in Jamaica that is only politicians can thief,” he said.

“I am very concerned about it and we would do the necessary audits to prevent it happening in the future. But… this practice must cease immediately,” the mayor said.

He instructed that this message be sent in writing to the corporation’s road and works department.

During his contribution to the 2020/21 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced plans to revamp the Lengthman Programme under which individuals are employed to maintain a specified length of road in their area and which has provided a livelihood for many people.

At the time, he said a “modernised, technology-enabled version” of the programme would be implemented at the community level by residents and will commence with high-trafficked corridors and inter-parish roadways.

Speaking during his contribution to the 2021/22 Sectoral Debate, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Everald Warmington outlined the advantages of the revamped programme and the systems in place to ensure that it operates efficiently.

“On a monthly basis, the road sections, under the programme, would be checked by government personnel to ensure that the work is up to par and to approve payment to the responsible individuals. If the work is not up to the required standard then payment will not be approved until it is,” Warmington said.

“We believe that two obvious advantages of this type of programme is that an individual is more likely to take pride and care in the maintenance and beautification of a roadway in his community, as he is directly benefiting from it. The community members also would likely know which individual is responsible for which section of road and would emit pressure on that individual to ensure that the work is done properly,” he added.

— Davia Ellis