The work of the Public Accounts Committee has now been stalled after the various Clerks of Committees have indicated their unwillingness to work for the Committee over health concerns.

The Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee took ill last week and her illness is being blamed on the high-stress level in the PAC meetings.

In a letter to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs said he would be unable to provide the Public Accounts Committee with a Clerk for its meeting which was planned for today and the meeting which is planned for next Monday.

Mr. Isaacs said, “due to the frequent challenges being encountered at meetings of the Public Accounts Committee, the present Clerk of the Committee has developed health issues because of high stress and cannot continue to clerk the Committee”.

He added that all other Clerks of Committees are unwilling to work in the PAC because of the unprofessional conduct of some members of that particular Committee, which is not conducive to a healthy work environment.

While Mr. Isaacs did not name the offending members of the Committee, News Source understands that a number of parliamentary staffers have complained about behaviour towards them by one particular member of the PAC who is a serving Minister of Government.

The staffers have complained about being shouted at and verbally abused by the government official who sits on the PAC.

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Opposition Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira told News Source today that he was blindsided by the letter which was sent to him and other members of the PAC by the Clerk of the National Assembly.

He said the Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee never raised the issue with him before.

“I was shocked and flabbergasted when I saw the letter. I was of the view that me and the Clerk have a good working relationship and she never expressed the view to me, so when I saw the letter I was really shocked and more so them saying none of the Clerks of the National Assembly want to work with the PAC is even more interesting because we have a backlog of work”, the PAC Chairmans said.

The Chairman of the PAC said he is hoping the issue could be resolved soon as the PAC is still faced with a backlog of work.

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