Greg Christie writes to Portia

Wants corruption issues addressed

Monday, January 09, 2012

CONTRACTOR General Greg Christie has written to newly appointed Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, to convey more than 25 Office of the Contractor General (OCG) anti-corruption recommendations for urgent consideration and implementation by the People’s National Party (PNP) administration.

In his letter, which was dispatched to the prime minister Friday, Christie also advised Simpson Miller that he “… stands ready to meet with [her and/or her] nominees at the earliest convenience to discuss the said matters, to answer any questions… and to understand the direction the administration is prepared to take…”

“The OCG recommendations are identical to the ones that were previously submitted to former prime minister Andrew Holness a few days after he assumed office as prime minister,” the OCG said in a news release today.

The recommendations, it said, “have been specifically crafted (a) to significantly enhance transparency, competition, accountability and probity in public contracting and licensing in Jamaica; (b) to ensure compliance with the Government’s Procurement Procedures and Guidelines; (c) to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the award and implementation of Government contracts; (d) to prevent fraud and corruption in Government contracting; (e) to strengthen the independence of the OCG, and; (f) to generally win the battle against corruption in Jamaica.”

“The recommendations are among the many corrective and remedial anti-corruption recommendations that the OCG has repeatedly made under Christie’s stewardship. However, no satisfactory action, to date, has been forthcoming from the Executive or Legislative arms of the State to effectively implement any of them,” the OCG said.

It pointed to statements Simpson Miller made in the last national debates, where she gave public assurance that “… in terms of fighting corruption, I will not tolerate any form of corruption in a PNP government… and I will ensure the strengthening of institutions like the OCG”.