Golding insisted LNG project must go to tender, OCG finds

Monday, May 30, 2011

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding insisted that the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project must be put to tender during a meeting in which he was updated on the project by Ian Moore, Contractor General Greg Christie has reported.

Christie, in his 609-page report on his probe into allegations regarding the project, said that the information was provided by Moore, a shareholder in Caribbean LNG.

Moore's company is a member of the consortium comprising Belgian company Exmar and Colombian gas distribution firm Promigas which was given the nod to implement the million-dollar project when it was being handled by former Energy Minister James Robertson.

But both Christie and a Steering Committee appointed by Golding to review the tender process said that the process was unfair and lacked transparency. Moore and Exmar have denied the allegations.

Christie said that Moore, in responding to the Office of the Contractor General's (OCG's) statutory requisition, provided the OCG with a document entitled, 'Major points from the September meeting with the PM' which was dated September 2009.

The document, Christie said, stated inter alia, that Moore's firm requested a meeting with the prime minister where he (Moore) updated Golding on meetings with Alpart, Jamalco, Jamaica Energy Partners, and Jamaica Private Power Company, and informed Golding of their responses as well as their concerns.

"After briefly perusing our feasibility study document and hearing of our progress, the HPM also said what we had achieved was impressive, but he immediately stated that the Government could not support this initiative and that the Government would have to put this out for tender," the OCG quoted Moore.

Moore said he asked the prime minister why a bid would be required, given that his clients are private sector and that they needed no Government funding.

However, the prime minister "explained that electricity would eventually be derived from this LNG source, and the rate payers are his constituents. So, although the Government was not buying anything specifically, nor was the Government putting up any money, the constituents would have to be protected".

According to the OCG report, Moore said that initially he disagreed with Golding and pointed out that this was a private sector initiative that would see electricity pricing going down by more than 30 per cent. However, Golding "countered by saying, what if another company said they could lower the cost by 40 per cent, that could cause a problem, so he said he saw no way but to go to bid".

Added Moore in his statement to the OCG: "In making an observation of the situation, the HPM used the words to the effect of 'you are halfway down the track; all you need is a race...'

"After reiterating the bauxite companies' concerns about going past December without a decision, HPM said a bid would be put out that would have the minimum allowable time by the laws of Jamaica."

Golding eventually yanked the project from Robertson, placing it in the Office of the Prime Minister.

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Golding insisted LNG project must go to tender, OCG finds