HOLNESS YUH HAFFI ANSA DIS

Former Petrojam HR Boss’ Separation Package Larger Than PM Disclosed


Former Petrojam human resource manager Yolande Ramharrack received a gross separation payment that was nearly $4 million more than the figure disclosed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Sancia Bennett Templer, details of the arrangement have revealed

The complete settlement brokered between Ramharrack and the state-owned oil refinery last November was made public yesterday amid mounting criticisms of the decision to include a non-disclosure clause.

The agreement showed that the total payment to the former human resource manager before taxes and deductions was $13.3 million.

Holness, in responding to questions in the House of Representatives last Tuesday, gave a different figure.

“From what I am seeing, based upon the settlement … started with a lump sum of $9.05 million, which would be the amount of eight months’ salary,” he said then.

Hours before that, Bennett Templer told the Public Account, Committee (PAC) of Parliament that the former human resource manager was paid $9.2 million.

Under the agreement, Ramharrack, who was facing at least 19 disciplinary charges at the time, walked away with $4.1 million after statutory deductions of $4.1 million and outstanding loans and obligations of $5.6 million – including $5.3 million for a motor car loan. Recoverables of approximately $423,000 were deducted.

The money was paid in two instalments of $3,500,416 and $688,912 on December 7 and 10 last year, according to Petrojam.

Ramharrack, who was hired without the required academic qualifications, was facing disciplinary charges for allegedly utilising her position to cause improper use of Petrojam funds and facilitating improper use of company funds, among other things.

Documents tabled in Parliament yesterday provided a behind-the-scenes look at the exchanges between Petrojam and lawyers for Ramharrack, which culminated in the separation agreement being signed almost three months after the disciplinary charges were formally laid against her.

According to the documents, the former human resource manager was informed of the charges by letter dated August 24 last year. A panel was set up to hear the charges but was unable to do so twice because her attorneys could not be present on those days.

“On October 22, 2018, a proposal for a settlement was made by Mrs Ramharrack’s attorney to include an appropriate release and discharge and a confidentiality agreement. Settlement discussions took place on October 25, 2018,” the documents revealed.

The settlement agreement was signed on November 14 and approved the following day.

Petrojam, in defending the move, saying the legal advice it received indicated that the findings of the performance audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Department did not waive the company’s obligation to comply with Section 22 of the Government’s disciplinary code, which guarantees public-sector employees a due-process hearing.

In addition, the company said a cost-benefit analysis done internally indicated that the settlement amount “$10,079,608” was far less than a potential award by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal of $35.5 million.

Ramharrack’s 19 Disciplinary Charges

  1. Utilising her position at Petrojam so as to cause improper use of the company’s funds and or resources.

Facilitating the improper use of the company’s funds and/or resources with respect to:

  1. The use of the company’s petty cash on or about December 19 and 20, 2017.
  2. The holding of a party held at Half Moon on or about January 8, 2018.
  3. The holding of a party held at the Palmyra Palms on or about September 19, 2017.

Dishonesty in that she failed to give a true report:

  1. Of her involvement in the arrangements for the party held at Half Moon Hotel.
  2. Of her involvement in the arrangements for the party held at Palmyra Palms.
  3. Of the breach of the Education Assistance – Tuition Reimbursement policy and in a circumstance when the said breach benefited her.
  4. About the circumstances which led to the hiring of a relative, Clayton Smith.
  5. Failing to discharge her duties as the human resource development and administration manager in the facilitated breaching of the company’s policies and/or benefited from several breaches of the company’s policies.

Gross negligence and/or incompetence:

  1. In that she failed to ensure compliance with several of the company’s policies.
  2. In hiring Michon Bell in contravention of the recruitment policy and/or entering into a contract for a period longer than that approved by Ministry of Finance.
  3. In that she executed employment letters in clear breach of the recruitment and/or employment policy.
  4. In hiring Olivier Cole in contravention of the recruitment policy.
  5. In that she failed to secure the personnel file for Delroy Brown.
  6. With respect to the handling of the situation concerning the missing personnel file for Delroy Brown.

SECOND ARTICLE

The Holness administration has signalled that it will press ahead with its compulsory acquisition of Venezuela’s stake in Petrojam, committing to put the funds in an escrow account in a bid to escape United States sanctions.

Jamaica’s buy-back, which will be based on a valuation conducted by an international consultant last March, would be in danger of censure from the Trump administration, which in January imposed sanctions against oil transactions with the embattled Maduro regime.

If Jamaican lawmakers vote to approve the proposed legislation that would give effect to the takeover, ownership of Venezuela’s 49 per cent stake in Petrojam would immediately be vested in Jamaica’s Accountant General “free of all encumbrances” and held in trust for the Government.

The Compulsory Acquisition (Shares in Petrojam) Act 2019, which was tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday, sets out Jamaica’s plan to retake the stake held in Petrojam by PDV Caribe, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The Jamaican Government owns the remaining 51 per cent.

‘IT’S A MYSTERY’

The parliamentary Opposition, however, mocked the move by the Jamaican Government to table the proposed legislation a day before the Parliament was set to be prorogued.

“It is a mystery. At a minimum, it would have made sense to wait until Thursday,” said Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips, making reference to tomorrow’s ceremonial opening of Parliament.

The bill indicated that in assessing compensation for the shares, account should be taken of the fair market value of Petrojam as determined by the valuation that was conducted by Muse, Stancil and Company. No figures were provided.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has cast the failure of the Venezuelan government to upgrade Petrojam’s ageing and increasingly obsolete infrastructure as an existential threat to the country’s energy security, arguing that the refinery would be at risk of breaching international agreements as well as losing its main client, electricity provider, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), which is in the mode of transitioning from heavy fuel oil to liquefied natural gas.

The proposed law allows persons who refuse the compensation offered by the Jamaican Government to seek legal redress for specific issues.

At a press conference held late Tuesday morning, Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith sought to emphasise that a negotiated settlement was a better guarantee that Jamaica would be in a strong position to buy back the PDVSA stake.

“The work towards a negotiated settlement continues, but as I have said before, the reality is that if we do nothing, if we do not have access to the shares, if we do not reach an agreement, nothing changes for the Venezuelan people, while for the Jamaican people, our supply of electricity and energy would be at risk,” she told a press conference at Jamaica House.

“If Petrojam were unable to purchase oil to sell the relevant types of fuel to JPS, Jamalco and JUTC, the entire economy would topple. And we are not even speaking yet about the taxes they pay to the revenue and the direct and indirect employment.”

Johnson Smith skirted questions on whether the Government’s legislation would circumvent the Trump administration’s interpretation of a transactional arrangement as stepping over a red line laid down last month.

She said negotiations with the Venezuelans were “beyond fluid, beyond sensitive, beyond complex”, asserting that even if PDV Caribe were open to agreement, the ability to remit the funds was problematic and required “analysis”.

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5 thoughts on “HOLNESS YUH HAFFI ANSA DIS”

  2. DOES THE WIFE HOLD ANY PUBLIC OFFICE?, BECAUSE IF THE ALLEGED MISTRESS, WITHOUT THE REQUIRED ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AS A MERE HR MANAGER CAN GET AWAY WITH SO MUCH, IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT BUSINESSES, CAN YOU IMAGINE IF SHE WAS DI WIFE?

    Reply

  4. So why theese dunce & stupid jamaican people believe him when he states on disclosure that the total cost of construction of his castle was a measly US 400 plus thousand dollars, and no mention of labour cost on the disclosure form, I wouldn’t trust that “dukunu” wife of his either, not saying those in the PNP is any better!

    Reply

  5. Corruption at its high. And stupid jamaicans think they are a great ppl when shit like this keeps happening. She should not have received any money clearly misrepresentation of qualifications to secure a job is gross misconduct, which is sanctioned by termination of employment.
    There needed to be no due process for the fact she committed fraud and should have been reported to the police and prosecuted for said fraud.
    These stupid fuckers are all made in JA. SMFH INSHALLAH

    Reply

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