My children are my motivation

28.SEP.07

Don Wehby’s decision last week to resign his senior executive position at GraceKennedy to serve in the new Jamaica Cabinet means his salary will plunge by more than 300 per cent.{{more}}

But the young chartered accountant, whose appointment as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service was dogged by controversy, said he accepted the job because of his children.

“I was at home discussing the offer with my wife when my four-year-old daughter ran into the room and gave me a big hug. At that moment I said to myself ‘I want to do it for my children’. I want a better Jamaica for my children,” the father of three, told the Observer in an interview late last week.

Wehby is only the latest in a line of illustrious Jamaican men and women who have been moved by patriotism to offer themselves in public service, almost all of them at great personal sacrifice.

The list of men and women who served at different levels of the public service from lucrative private sector positions and holdings is exhaustive, though many remained below the radar of national attention.

Not all had, however, to sever links with their former entities in order to serve.

For example, Oliver Clarke, chairman of the Gleaner Company, served as chairman of the state-run Jamaica National Hotels and Properties and later as head of the committee which reviewed parliamentary salaries and emoluments.

His children apart, Wehby too was moved by the spirit of patriotism. For some time he had been bothered the state of his country, he told the Observer.

“We go to cocktail parties and complain about the state of the country. I got a chance to do something, so now I am going to,” he said.

Wehby joined GraceKennedy, the Caribbean’s leading conglomerate, in 1995 and became group chief financial officer in 1999, before being promoted to head of GraceKennedy’s financial division. Last year, he was promoted to group deputy CEO with the company being rearranged from four to two divisions.

For the first quarter of 2007, his arm of the conglomerate contributed 80 per cent to group revenues which came in at $10.57 billion, an increase of $1.79 billion or 20.4 per cent over the same period last year. Revenues generated profits attributable to equity holders of $594.6 million, an increase of 24.7 per cent on last year’s figure for the first quarter ($476.8 million). This represents earnings per stock unit of $1.83 (2006: $1.46).

His appointment to the Cabinet was widely praised by private sector leaders who described it as “futuristic”, “forward thinking” and “unprecedented”.

“I think it is fantastic that a member of the private sector has been brought in to bring the sort of insight into the management of the public purse and I have every confidence in his ability,” Jamaica Chamber of Commerce president Mark Myers said of Wehby’s appointment.

Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) president Christopher Zacca said it was strategic and augured well for public-private sector co-operation, while Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, executive director of the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, said the appointment of Wehby and veteran trade unionist Dwight Nelson – the other minister without portfolio in the ministry – “reflects public-private partnership. a wider and futuristic thinking of how the private sector and labour movement will work toward bringing economic reform”.

The Government job will see Wehby, who is on two years’ leave of absence, receiving a salary somewhere in the region of $3 million annually, a huge drop from the more than $13 million he earned at GraceKennedy.

Despite the big pay cut, Wehby’s stockholdings in GraceKennedy amount to 1,705,536, which, according to the firm’s 2006 annual report, he owns with “connected persons” – most likely his wife.

At the end of trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange yesterday, GraceKennedy shares closed at $62.04, putting the value of Wehby’s stocks at $105 million.

Shortly after it became public knowledge that Wehby would join the Cabinet, GraceKennedy’s announcement that the firm would pay him the difference of his salary sparked controversy, with critics raising concerns about the possibility for a conflict of interest, even though none of those opposed questioned his integrity.

Last Thursday, Wehby, who had previously resigned his directorships with GraceKennedy, severed all his links to the firm, a move which Audley Shaw, the minister of finance and the public service, said should remove all doubts of a conflict of interest in his appointment.

“We feel it is a right decision and we applaud his patriotism, his courage and the fact that he has put his country ahead of his own personal interest,” Shaw said.

The private sector to public sector transition happened very fast, Wehby disclosed. “I got the call from the prime minister on Monday and on Friday I was being sworn in,” he said, adding that since then he has been working “some long hours” with Shaw and the finance ministry staff whom Wehby described as “very competent” and “dedicated”.

His focus, he said, would be fiscal discipline and management of the country’s debt which, according to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, now stands at almost a thousand billion dollars.

“Macro-economic stability is going to be important. We have [growth] targets of 4.5 per cent outlined,” said Wehby who in 2003, in his capacity as PSOJ vice-president, lobbied for legislation to prevent finance ministers from expanding their budget deficit.

Wehby also said he would look at the issue of tax reform and added that his former GraceKennedy boss Orane’s 1998 report on cutting Government waste, which has since become a standard for fiscal discipline, will likely inform some of his decisions.

“I feel very confident,” he said of his interaction so far with the finance ministry officials and the political directorate. He also said that he has been receiving a number of phone calls from young people in the private sector who have been commending him and offering help.

“They want to volunteer,” said Wehby. “Many of them have said that if anything comes up in the public sector I should let them know because they want to offer their services.” (Jamaica Observer)