The Integrity Commission (IC) has declared that all of its annual and investigation reports that were submitted to Parliament, have been tabled there.
The announcement comes days after Opposition Leader Mark Golding criticised the appointment of Juliet Holness, the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, as House Speaker, because he said it presented some major issues, with him contending that she has proven to be lacking in independence relative to certain business of the House.
At a press conference shortly after the prime minister led a walkout of Government members of the House over Golding’s comments on Tuesday, the Opposition leader said Mrs Holness’ performance as House Speaker has given rise to what he said were concerns due to her handling of the tabling of reports from the IC and the auditor general.
In a statement issued on Friday, the IC said it has taken note of comments that have been and continue to be made in sections of the media, which would suggest that reports that have been submitted by the commission to Parliament for tabling, are yet to be tabled.
“In the public interest, the commission wishes to advise and to confirm that all of its investigation and annual reports that have so far been submitted to Parliament for tabling have, in fact, been tabled,” it said.
“None is outstanding,” the IC insisted.
In relation to matters that are currently before the IC, which include matters under investigation, the anti-corruption body said it is “unable” to make any public comment regarding same because it is prohibited from doing so by Sections 56(1) and/or 53(3) of the Integrity Commission Act.
“The commission wishes to remind the public that, in the interest of public transparency, once it sends an investigation report to Parliament for tabling, it immediately issues a media release to advise the public that it has done so, despite the fact that it is, at that point in time, prohibited by law from identifying the subject of the report,” the statement continued.
The IC said once any investigation report is tabled in Parliament, it issues an advisory on X (formerly Twitter) to inform the public, and it also publishes the report on its official website – https://integrity.gov.jm/.
