THE quarrel between the Jamaica Association of Contractors and Construction Consultants (JACCC) and the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) is set to escalate with that association now taking legal action against the OCG for allegedly breaching its rights.

In a statement yesterday, the JACCC said the decision to haul the OCG before the courts came out of a meeting with its membership and other contractors yesterday.

It said the contractors were adamant that the contractor general has been constantly persistent in contravening the Act that governs how it operates, hence the instructions to their attorney to "immediately start legal proceedings against the OCG".

In building a case against the OCG, the JACCC alleged that the OCG has "illegally held interviews and records interviews under duress, denying the contractors legal representation during interviews" and sent documents to the Fraud Squad using the interview that was "illegally obtained".

It is also charging that the OCG is guilty of delisting and suspending contractors, resulting in these contractors not being gainfully employed.

"The OCG has breached the process of natural justice and the contractor's constitutional rights," the JACCC contended.

The feud between the OCG and the JACCC goes back as far as last September when JACCC Chairman Percival LaTouche indicated that he would seek legal redress from then Contractor General Greg Christie for statements about him included in releases from the OCG.

At the time, LaTouche claimed that his character was "maligned and tarnished" by the OCG.

The OCG, for its part, stood its ground and refused to retract the statements, suggesting instead that it was LaTouche who should curb his own utterances.

Yesterday, repeated calls by the Jamaica Observer to Acting Contractor General Craig Beresford for a response to the latest development went unanswered.