Christie puts new gov't on warning

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

CONTRACTOR General Greg Christie has asked the new People's National Party administration to declare its hand in negotiations with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for completion of the US$600-million North-South Link Highway 2000, and for the consequential granting of a 50-year toll concession to that company is concerned.

Christie made the call in a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on her swearing-in in which he, among other things, raised concerns about the project and sought audience with the administration to canvass its opinions on some 25 recommendations which he says are for urgent consideration and implementation.

Chief among those are what he said are "strong objections to the apparent intent of the former Government to award, without international competitive tender, a sole-source contract to CHEC to, among other things, complete the construction of the Spanish Town to Ocho Rios North-South Link of Highway 2000 and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP)".

Said Christie: "The OCG continues to maintain that the current negotiations between NROCC (National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited) and CHEC should be terminated forthwith, and that the said transaction, irrespective of its structure, should be subjected to a transparent and international competitive bidding process whereby value for money can be secured for the benefit of the people and taxpayers of Jamaica," Christie said yesterday.

The contractor general said that his office was "not only amazed, but alarmed, that the former JLP administration was seemingly bent on persisting what would be another controversial sole-source contract award to CHEC, despite ongoing public controversies, audits and OCG investigations which have arisen in consequence of a similar sole-source award of the US$400-million JDIP" contract to the same company.

He said that pending the outcome of the investigations, and in an effort to strengthen the oversight of the execution of the JDIP and to promote transparency, competition, fairness and value for money in matters that are associated therewith, the OCG was proposing the implementation of a number of measures.

As such, he said the selection of JDIP sub-contractors should be subjected to an OCG-supervised competitive tender processes giving his office the ability to better scrutinise the particulars of all such sub-contracts.

In addition, he said it should be a fundamental condition of the programme that all tributary contracts that are awarded by JDIP sub-contractors, must be awarded to only those registered with the National Contracts Commission.

In the letter dispatched to the prime minister last Friday, her first day in office, Christie said: "I stand ready to meet with you and/or your nominees at your earliest convenience to discuss the said matters, to answer any questions that you may have, and to understand the direction that your administration is prepared to take, regarding the said recommendations, in keeping with the specific public commitments that you have already given to strengthen the OCG and to fight corruption in Jamaica."

Those recommendations, he said, were a snapshot of the ones previously submitted to former prime minister, Andrew Holness, in a letter dated October 31, 2011 — a mere eight days after he assumed that office.

Yesterday, Christie said the recommendations were specifically crafted to, among other things, enhance transparency, competition, accountability and probity in public contracting and licensing in Jamaica as well as to eliminate fraud and corruption in government contracting.

He made it clear, however, that the recommendations sent to Simpson Miller were among the many corrective and remedial anti-corruption recommendations that the OCG has repeatedly made.

"...However, no satisfactory action, to date, has been forthcoming from the executive or legislative arms of the State to effectively implement any of them," he said.

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COMMENTS (24)

Archibald Davidson
1/10/2012

Kimberly Butler Beckford: Be objective! Greg Christie is not the only Jamaican with principle, integrity and other superlative attributes. Most such Jamaicans, unlike the Pharisees and as Christ instructed, lead their exemplary lives without drawing media and other attention to themselves. The current Auditor General is more effective than Mr Christie; her work speaks for her & she does not err with people's reputations.Same for former AG Adrian Strachan & former Contractors General.

kimberly butler-beckford
1/10/2012

Stop hating on the messenger and read the damn message. Greg Christie is a fine example of a man who does his job. Jamaicana have gotten used to getting aroung things by bribes and/or contact s now that they are faced with someone who is above the crap he must be mentally imbalanced or narcissistic. Why not just a man of principle. Every agency needs a watch dog like GC. Give the man credit...he sent the same request to PSM as AH.

Leopold McPherson
1/10/2012

Christie, desperate for more power.....relax dude and be guided by the contractor general Act.

Joe Wonder
1/10/2012

Christie needs to stop being a whinny little schoolers. Those who pay little attention to specs. within this discipline usually are confused: Fret bout corruption when all quantities are measurable. Properly done, sub-contractors should be the least of his concerns.

Kwame Gordon-Martin
1/10/2012

LOL. Greg not even giving them time to quint. Get at them dawg! I love it. It would be highly embarassing if the PNP decided to utilise a single source contract after all the screaming that took place when the JLP looked to subvert the process. I cannot believe they are that DUMB nor that quick to dissipate whatever goodwill they came in under. However the legislative changes Christie wants will take time but until then, every contract must be put up for bid!

2kool .
1/10/2012

@dave james - the OCG wasn't absent during the period you mentioned but I do agree with you that he was more visible and vocal during the last 4 years and quite rightly so because almost every month there were new scandals, corruptions, breaches, non-compliance, and other issues that were created, unprecedented in our history. Yet it only got worse. The jlp made no attempt to cooperate with the OCG. Hopefully this admin will not make the same mistake.

Petros Haile
1/10/2012

Well, one has every respect for Mr. Christie, but, I would put some caution to some of his recommendations. In particular to provide him with prosecutorial powers - this is a worrying proposal

Island Patriot
1/10/2012

At least Mr. Christie is remaining consistent. I doubt Porita and her Prehistoric National Party, wid dem big cabinet, is going to address or do anything. And if they don't, business owners like myself will never bring investment to JA!

maroon C.
1/10/2012

Wanda Woeman, i c where u have grown up, i dont know exactly y, but your comments lately sound kinda cevil, however let me remind u that the ones that have take us to the edge of the precipice is back in power, and this time they have the majority they need to take us over the precipice so unfortunately we r doom. May Gad Help us!!!

Fabian Williams
1/10/2012

I would like to think that the OCG is a decent and hard working public servant. But like most senior officers in the public service he has a political bias. We just have to observe in his conduct this time around tio see if he is soft on the PNP.

dave james
1/10/2012

Interesting.Time will tell! OCG was relatively quiet for the extended time period prior to the last administration.Then suddenly he was in the news almost everyday for the last four years.We will see how much noise is made or how much is heard of him for the next four years.

D T
1/10/2012

I always support the OCG, he has always been clear in his intentions to make Ja a better place. My problem is when are we going to see some of these dirty politicians in jail. I call on the PNP to do a full investigation into JDIP and if possible throw somebody in jail. We will take no more of these politicians stealing the country's money for their own benefit and then walk away laughing. We dont want resignations we want jail time for all involved. PSM show us that you are different.

Archibald Davidson
1/10/2012

Did the Prime Minister inform the media about Mr Christie writing to her or did Mr Christie, as usual, utilize his apparent media contacts in this regard? Does anyone know why this matter is the lead story for a number of media houses? Mr Christie, unlike any other unelected public officer, behaves as if he is responsible for running our country.

Archibald Davidson
1/10/2012

I posted this quote last December 16. "Ever since Mr Christie started publicizing his dealings with public officers in about 2006, I opined that he was behaving as if he ran the country. Since the government changed in 2007, I have still maintained this opinion. I have also noticed too that whenever any event results in the limelight being on some other event or person, Mr Christie finds ways to bring himself into the limelight also. Somebody needs to psychoanalyze Mr Christie; my hunch is that he has some kind of mental imbalance."

Ricky Dread
1/10/2012

Greg Christie strikes me as extremely narcissistic. I am always wary of Big Brother, especially one who thinks as highly of himself as this guy does.

coppa Locks
1/10/2012

Prime Minister Simpson, we a watching and waiting. Mr. Christie has made some very valid recommendations and we want them implemented. The way you handle this will determine whether you will be forced out of office sooner than you want.
The people want result and not bag of mouth.

Chuck Emanuel
1/10/2012

I would advise Governance to implement these recommendations expeditiously. They are our only checks and balances against statements, announcements, and promises of ACCOUNTABILITY and Transparency. These are tangible and measurable and will assist in aligning policies and procedures with the strategy of Governance.

M D
1/10/2012

Transparency, accountability and probity in the way we conduct our affairs are key factors in placing Jamaica on the world stage as being attractive for investment purposes. Mr. Christie should be allowed to carry on with his job without fear or favour if we are serious about a new page in the way we govern and tackle corruption in high places. jamaica can only benefit from having him continue in his role. The good of the country should take precedence over nepotism, corruption and partisanship.

silas marner
1/10/2012

There are more like Christie out there who need to be used for the good of Jamaica. If the gvmt, is worth their salt, then they should give heed to the warnings, analyse them and implement the recommendations that will suffice. Fifty yrs for a payback of the loan is more than anyone can fathom but such a road is very expensive; however, without the benefit of competition this could be an abyss in waiting. LAWD! Paulwell did a good job with C&w and should be asked to be with the negotiations.

Nicolas Henry
1/10/2012

Nothing will change in JA, it will be business as usuall. We could write blog and talk till wi dead, things will remain the same. Untill the voters learn to respect themselves, and stop coming out dancing in red shirt and green shirt around the silly seasons, politicians will always take them for fools. Govt don't have to perform in JA to be elected, they just need to come with the argument that's coded with the "Hustling" "Eat a Food" lifestyle, then they will be elected by landslide victories.

larry smith
1/10/2012

this man greg christie,is simply the best better than all the rest,he is honourable and i think we need a couragious man such as greg to help ....in way of holding politicians and civil-servant accountable.lets hope that we will all co-porate with him so that we have a better system .i know you can't be everywhere sir .christie but if we somehow become a republic, will you be our first president..

Hugh Maxwell
1/10/2012

Well Mr. Christie, we shall surely see in the near future how this administration is going to be responding to those administrations. Cool

wanda woeman
1/10/2012

We are anxiously waiting to see whether this administration is willing to put its money where its mouth is. Let us enact laws where it is extremely difficult to steal the ppl's money and that the punishment for those who do is greater than the reward.
Let those who say "no better herring, no better barrel." eat crow.
We can restore this great party to the pinnacles of excellence. We have seen too what can happen when a rogue govt is in charge. We went too near the precipice.
Time to pull back

Cedric Daley
1/10/2012

From all indications, Contractor General Greg Christie is a public servant of great integrity and is consistent and stedafast in his dedication and service to the people of Jamaica. Ever since he took the job he has consistently put forward proposals to "enhance transparency, competition, accountability and probity in public contracting and licensing in Jamaica as well as to eliminate fraud and corruption in government contracting." It is time someone listens and act on his recommendations.

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