The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) has dismissed as false and misleading claims of mismanagement and victimisation levied against the agency by an alleged whistleblower reported by Nationwide News on Tuesday.

The radio station had reported that a whistleblower has shared with it, concerns about the management style of CEO Andrew Wynter and another executive of the agency and has called for their immediate resignation.

“This could not be any further from the truth. This assumption is completely false,” PICA said in a news release.

PICA also said that the radio report had “claimed malfeasance and maladministration at the agency but failed to provide any evidence to support these allegations”.

The agency said that when allegations were first shared with it by Nationwide in April 2023, the agency had denied them, “and will continue doing so”.

“In response to these allegations, it should be noted that the outstanding track record of PICA and its leadership, including the CEO, over the past few years has been exemplary and has earned itself the distinction of being among the better-performing public bodies in the country. This is evident by the agency recently being recertified ISO 90001:2015,” PICA said.

It also rubbished the alleged whistleblower’s claim of victimisation, vindictiveness, absenteeism and lack of assistance, saying that “it lacks credibility”.

“It should be noted that the culture of PICA, which has been honed over the years, engenders camaraderie, professionalism, integrity and accountability, especially to our valued customers and stakeholders,” the agency said.

“These claims carry no weight and are nothing but a barefaced attempt to disrupt the normal operations of one of Jamaica’s best-run government agencies.

“Like anywhere else, there will never be 100 per cent staff satisfaction, however, we at PICA pride ourselves in being true to our core values, and, as such, leave no room for victimisation, vindictiveness or any act of unkind practice, as being alleged,” PICA said.

The agency pointed out that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic it implemented a number of measures to assist staff, including, but not limited to, providing transportation during curfews and loans to facilitate back-to-school efforts.

PICA also said that the alleged whistleblower’s claim of mass resignation at its Contact Centre is false. It also said the allegation that it hosted a job fair to fill positions left vacant “as a result of this would-be mass resignation at our Contact Centre is misleading and spurious at best”.

“At no time was a job fair organised for that purpose.”

Said PICA: “What the whistleblower failed to admit is that the job fair was a strategic decision taken by the agency to mitigate any possible fallout at the time due to an overwhelming increase in calls to access services through our Contact Centre at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Also, the agency had decided to expand service offerings at the Contact Centre and the job fair was part of the efforts to find staff quickly to fill the vacancies in the new and upgraded Contact Centre.

“The increased rate of calls naturally placed a severe strain on the agency to respond to customers’ demands. Therefore, a decision was taken to host the job fair as a direct means to acquire the necessary personnel to alleviate those challenges. Thankfully, we managed to meet our objectives at the most trying of times. Additionally, the agency needed staff for other areas of customer service and other units,” PICA said.

It also said that at no time has it forcibly amended the contracts of employees, nor has there been any evidence of exploitation as alleged by the whistleblower.

“Employees’ rights, vis-a-vis contracts have never been abridged at PICA. We are mindful that any such action would most certainly open the agency up for litigation. This allegation is totally false. The only occasion that a contract is changed is where an employee is moving from a contract position to a permanent one or into a role where the position is contracted,” PICA explained.

It also pointed out that its HR operations were recently audited by the Office of the Services Commission which commended the agency.

PICA also said that a claim that Cubans obtained documents through fraudulent means is misleading.

“The agency has taken steps to prevent and eliminate attempts by persons to use fraudulent documents to obtain benefits, and, to this end, it has implemented a Document Forensic Lab Facial Recognition System and so far, more than 100 employees of the agency have been trained to detect fraudulent documents,” PICA said.

“Over the last 12 months, a number of Cubans have been arrested and placed before the courts for submitting fraudulent documents,” it added.

Additionally, PICA said, it has put in place a special team to review all applications submitted by Cubans to ensure that they meet the criteria to be accepted.

That fact, PICA said, demonstrates that the whistleblower was being disingenuous.

Regarding the claim that staff are being rotated, PICA said it reserves the right to reassign or rotate staff members at short notice based on the demands of the organisation, and this has been a practice since the inception of the agency.

“These sometimes sudden changes are driven by the demands of the operations and skill set of the employees, and, as part of the agency’s competency programme, staff are rotated to different areas to enable them to get a broad understanding of their role and function within the organisation,” PICA explained.

It said that during the period in question, there was an overwhelming demand for PICA services, and in keeping with the culture of team spirit to meet its objectives, staff were asked to work in other areas.

“The adoption of this policy was designed to maintain a high-quality customer experience and to ensure that our staff can work in almost any area,” the agency said.

Regarding the claim of rat infestation at its Portland offices, PICA said when the matter was brought to management’s attention, immediate action was taken to address the situation. “

Subsequently, the situation is being monitored and reported on monthly.”

The agency said it is also in the process of finding a new location that will eliminate this risk and provide a more secure and safe work area for staff and customers.

“Not only are we aware of the situation, we are also working tirelessly to address the matter. To say that the agency has been negligent on this account is, therefore, mischievous and deceptive. It is uncalled for and careless,” PICA said.

The agency said it holds its employees in high regard and strives to create a safe and healthy working environment for both staff and its valued customers.

“PICA takes all these allegations very seriously and endeavours to do all it can in providing the most appropriate responses,” the agency said.

“As a leading agency of Government, the management of PICA values the welfare and well-being of all its employees at all levels and will continue working in the service of the Jamaican people, while exhibiting a high level of professionalism, decency and integrity in the execution of its duties,” the agency said.

“Based on the information provided in the report by this alleged whistleblower, it is clear they know little or nothing about the agency and its operations, nor are they aware of activities and actions taken by the agency in addressing these issues raised,” the agency said, and described the allegations as a “clear attempt to besmirch” its hard-earned reputation.