Probe if nepotism behind Ramharrack hire

IWATCHED with curiosity the proceedings of the Public Appropriations and Administration Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, and, in particular, the testimony surrounding the ongoing saga at Petrojam.

There were many points of interest, but I find the revelation of Yolande Ramharrack that she did not meet the qualification requirement for the position of human resource manager as advertised as most disturbing. In fact, she went on to reveal that she’s still in search of that qualification.

As a young graduate who remains unemployed despite many applications for work, I find it alarming that someone who is not qualified for a position can be employed and paid at such a rate.

This disclosure by Ms Ramharrack means that someone took the decision to allow Petrojam to hire her with less qualification than is required and without making it known to potential other applicants that the standard was lowered to level the playing field. In other words, someone may have decided to ‘colt the game’ to give Ms Ramharrack preferential treatment. Who?

Also, when someone is being hired with less than the optimum qualification but their other skill sets are essential, it is usually at a discounted rate to compensate for the deficit in qualification for the position. The discounted salary may be adjusted whenever the full qualification is met.

In the case of Ms Ramharrack, not only was she hired without the appropriate qualification and requirement for the position as advertised, but the salary package offered was more than the package earned by the predecessor, who had met the qualification requirement. Ms Ramharrack’s salary package is $13.4 million, approximately $3.6 million more than her predecessor, who had the full qualification. This is very strange and would require someone to make such determination in favour of Ms Ramharrack. Who?

NO COMPETENCE

Finally, Ms Ramharrack, it appears, has been placed in a position at Petrojam to supervise an area in which she has no competence, but in the haste to find the justification for the exorbitant salary package, she is left to handle matters relating to industrial relations as well. Based on her testimony, she has no competence to deal with such matters, but someone decided that it should be part of her remit. Who?

Does it mean that young graduates like myself have no option but to find a benefactor who can likewise place us in top positions? Is this the norm in Jamaica now? Is this nepotism?