The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is rejecting as mischief and blatant lies the allegation that trillions are unaccounted for and/or missing across various ministries of government.

“The PNP (People’s National Party) and a few of their surrogates in civil society who have been spreading misinformation are very much aware that what we have is a situation which was initially flagged in 2012/2013 when the PNP was in office where various expenditures were not subjected to an external audit by the auditor general. These funds are not unaccounted for or missing. It is unbecoming of PNP surrogates to use the traditional and social media space to falsely suggest otherwise,” spokesperson for the JLP’s communication taskforce, Marlon Morgan said in a press release.

Morgan sought to sensitize the public about the issue by noting that various ministries of government receive an allocation of money each year based on what is approved by parliament for expenditure by that ministry. Ministries are required by law to prepare what is called their Appropriation Account at the end of a financial year and make it available for audit by the auditor general within four months following the end of the financial year in March annually, he said.

A ministry’s Appropriations Account outlines the money spent by that ministry in a given financial year, against what parliament authorised the ministry to spend in executing its work and programmes, he added.

Morgan noted that some ministries are yet to finalize their Appropriations Account so that they may be audited and certified by the auditor general. However, he asserts that “the public can rest assured that based on rigorous accounting procedures and protocols, as well as systemic checks and balances in the government’s financial management system, including a requirement that each ministry’s expenditure is accompanied by appropriate payment vouchers and other supporting documents, there are no missing or unaccounted for public funds.”

Morgan said the Prime Minister Andrew Holness-led administration is moving to fix the problem.

“Ministries have been directed to build capacity and prioritize their Appropriations Accounts to secure the auditor general’s certification as soon as possible. The Jamaica Labour Party recognises and readily appreciates that protracted delays in the preparation and certification of Appropriation Accounts require action and is not kept. We are moving to fix the long-standing problem,” Morgan said.

The JLP said it wishes to reiterate that there is no missing or unaccounted-for public funds. It said any media report or commentary suggesting that money allocated to ministries is missing or unaccounted for is false and irresponsible.