Minister of Education Ruel Reid out due to allegations of corruption at the Ministry.
Kingston, Jamaica.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness released a statement on 3/20/19: In the statement, Holness said that he requested and received the resignation of Minister Ruel Reid from the Cabinet. He went on to say, Minister Reid is also resigning from the Senate.
Some media outlet insisted Reid was fired. The Education Minister’s firing or resignation come a day after The Gleaner reported that the Ministry is being audited by the Auditor General’s Department.
The opposition leader Peter Phillips on Monday stated during a post-Budget press conference that the allegations are related directly to Caribbean Maritime University and use of funds sent to the Ministry by the HEART Trust for the Career Advancement Programme as well as the Technical, Vocational, Educational and Training (T-VET)
The Opposition Party state in parliament they have reports of misuse of public funds and corruption at the education ministry, and suggested the Petrojam scandal is equivalent.
Prime minister Andrew Holness says because of the allegations at the ministry of education. The Minister’s resignation will ensure that any investigation into matters of concern will not be in any way impeded by his presence or oversight of the ministry.
According to the RJR News, Helene Davis-Whyte, President of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), has said the Prime Minister requesting Education Minister Ruel Reid’s resignation in the wake of the allegations of impropriety in the ministry shows that he has learnt from recent incidents.“The news…is heartening because at least it says that there has been some learning from the situation with Dr. Andrew Wheatley; and so, it says to us that those of us in the public domain who have been forthright in trying to ensure that principles of good governance are brought to bear on the entire governance mechanism in Jamaica, that those efforts are in fact bearing fruit,” She also called for disciplinary action against anyone found culpable of wrongdoing. Prime Minister Andrew Holness reassured the nation that there will be no disruptions to the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations now being taken by students who are about to exit the primary school system because of the resignation of Education, Youth and Information Minister, Ruel Reid, on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister disclosed that Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Karl Samuda, has been assigned to the Education Ministry to provide oversight.
The prime minister made the disclosure on Wednesday afternoon in response to questions posed by Opposition Leader, Dr Peter Phillips, and Leader of Opposition Business in the House, Phillip Paulwell, at the end of the 2019-2020 Budget Debate.