JUTC managers fail to meet minimum qualification, MD lists high school diploma

A performance audit of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) by the Auditor General’s Department has found that several senior personnel lack minimum qualifications as well as an absence of transparency in recruitment practices at the state-own bus company.

The report, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, highlights that the managing director only listed a high school diploma on file despite the job requiring a postgraduate degree and 10 years’ experience at the senior level.

Similar shortcomings were highlighted for the posts of deputy managing director, engineering and technical services; deputy managing director, human resource and administration; security manager; general manager, Half Way Tree Transport Centre; and fuel control officer, depot operations manage.

Here is a breakdown of the findings:

1.Managing Director

Minimum education requirement as per job description - * Post graduate degree in management/ industrial engineering or equivalent qualifications from a recognised tertiary institution. *Qualification in transport management would be an asset. * General management of enterprise with revenue of over 3 billion dollars. *10 years post qualification experience at the senior management level.

Personnel record - High school diploma. Owner and manager of a private auto service centre. Previously served as MD 2009-2012.

2. Deputy managing director, engineering and technical services

Minimum education requirement as per job description - * bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent qualification from recognised institution. * Five years’ experience as a senior manager directing the mechanical engineering maintenance programme of a large fleet of heavy equipment

Personnel record - None seen. Acceptance to the University of Technology for Diploma in Engineering; no evidence of completion. *Worked at JUTC in various management positions last of which was Ass. VP 2009-2012. Terminated. * Owner of Motor vehicle transportation and service business.

3. Deputy managing director, human resource and administration

Minimum education requirement as per job description -  * Post graduate diploma in human resource, * 10 years’ experience in personnel and employee relations, five of which should be at the senior management level.

Personnel record - Certificate; Introduction to Personnel Management, IMP, 2001. * Certificate: Leadership Motivation and Organisational Change, and several professional development certificates. Employed since 2002 as recruitment officer.

4. Security Manager

Minimum education requirement as per job description - * First degree in management studies or equivalent qualification. * At least five years military /police/security training.

Personnel record -  Sixth standard. Retired assistant senior police officer

5. General Manager, Half Way Tree Transport Centre

Minimum education requirement as per job description -  * B.Sc. degree in industrial engineering, operations management or equivalent qualification. *10 years’ experience as a manager in operations management of which at least five years should have been in charge of a business unit or major cost centre.

Personnel record -  None seen.

6. Fuel control officer, depot operations manager

Minimum education requirement as per job description -   * bachelor is degree in business management or a relevant combination of professional certification, academic qualifications and extensive experience in logistics operations, supply chain management. * At least 2 years’ experience in a similar position

Personnel record -  * Business processing outsourcing certificate 15th December 2017 UCC. * Youth Leadership Development 2017, and Public Speaking.

Transparency lacking

Meanwhile, the performance audit raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the recruitment practices for some management positions at JUTC.

Among other things, the audit found that some posts were not advertised and that there were no interviews for some positions.

Persons were also employed in unapproved positions and there were instances where employees saw significant jumps in their salaries over a relatively short period.

In one case, an employee had his salary hiked by 583 per cent.

Here are the key findings

* We found no evidence that the positions for nine of 21 senior managers sampled were advertised and no evidence that eight senior managers were interviewed in accordance with guidelines.

* Further, we gleaned that despite the advertisement for the position of a security manager in December 2018 and interviews conducted with four candidates, the JUTC engaged another officer who was not a part of the official recruitment process, on a one-year contract. The JUTC indicated that the interview for the security manager did not yield any suitable candidate; therefore, the selected individual was interviewed from a pool of application on file. However, no evidence was provided to support this claim. Additionally, there was no evidence that the requisite minimum qualifications as outlined in the job description for six of the senior managers engaged, were met.

* Furthermore, from the sample of 21, two of the candidates were assigned to higher positions shortly after employment, which resulted in a 64 per cent and 583 per cent increase in their respective salaries.

One was promoted within a year, despite an unsatisfactory performance appraisal and the other without providing evidence of qualification.

Despite requests, the JUTC did not provide a justification for the employment of a general manager and an operations manager in its corporate office at salaries of $6.4 million and $4.3 million, respectively to unapproved positions, incurring additional cost to the entity.

The employment of these officers was not subject to a competitive recruitment/selection process; there was also no signed job description outlining the actual functions and duties, as such, no determination could be made as to the basis for employment; particularly in a context where the company faced decline in financial viability.

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