He not only barks, he bites! - Golding backs Greg Christie

Golding backs Greg Christie; plans to give Contractor General 'more teeth'

BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday told young Labourites that Contractor General Greg Christie was fearless and unrelenting in his quest to root out corruption and he pledged his full support to the man some have called overzealous.

Golding said the government would amend the Constitution to make the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) a creature under the constitution.

"Somebody who is perhaps the most disliked public officer, or public official... disliked by persons in both the Jamaica Labour Party and People's National Party (PNP) is the Contractor General. This is a dog that not only barks, but he bites...," Golding said, as he delivered the keynote address, following the election of officers for Generation 2000 (G2K) the party's youth arm.

Christie has drawn the ire of politicians from both sides, as a consequence of investigations into various matters of government. He has been accused of damaging the reputations of individuals who are serving their country while scaring others from offering their service.

Golding too, said he had some difficulty with Christie's public pronouncements regarding investigations, and what he calls the "haste to publish even before the basis of the investigations and the questions of persons who may be involved are clearly identified."

"Sometimes I quarrel with his stridency. But I have said publicly, I have said privately, I have said it in Cabinet and I have said it within the party, that the Contractor General has my full support. Full support...," he stated.

Continuing, he said: "As a matter of fact, we are now going to parliament with a Bill to amend the Constitution to install the Contractor General in the Constitution, because right now he is outside the Constitution. He is established just by statute, by law, we going to put him in the Constitution so that he will now have recognition and authority."

G2K applauded the suggestion but Golding was not sure it would be welcomed by every Labourite.

"...Some of us might feel that the Contractor General is too fass, him too feisty. Well if you have somebody who is going to be a bulwark against corruption, then he needs to be fass and he needs to be feisty..." he stated.

He said Christie was human and would make errors in investigations, his approach and in his utterances. It was hoped that over time: "he would perhaps review some of those things.

"But I don't think anybody can question his integrity, his fearlessness and his determination to discharge his statutory duties as a Contractor General..." he said.

Golding reminded the audience that the JLP came to power promising to root out corruption and government would now set out, "fit and proper criteria for individuals to get government contracts."

"We took a very clear position against corruption because we saw enough of that in 18-and-half years. We not only declared our resolute position against it, we laid out specific commitments as to how we would deal with the problem of corruption. And we are in the process now of rolling out those measures that we had committed ourselves to...," he declared.

In Opposition the JLP trumpeted the need for a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute corruption in government.

The Bill to establish that office is before a parliamentary committee.

Said Golding: "We are going to criminalise breaches of the government's contracts awards system. Last week Cabinet approved the new government procurement policy. We approved the new procurement handbook, which is going to be made a legal document because in past it has not been...," he said.

According to him, if somebody is involved in corruption it does not matter what colour shirt they wear.

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COMMENTS (13)

K Davis
11/15/2010

@ Clara I am not sure what you mean about the office being where it is and not under the Constitution since doing the latter makes the occupant vulnerable to the whims of the elected officials. It is usually the case that posts established in the constitution get the kind of independence that allows them to not be fired due to political interference

John Christian
11/14/2010

this forum is becoming one of proffesional responses,we must be carefull that our comments no longer attract critical reading,and is lumped into the category of nonsense.

Anthony II
11/14/2010

People such as Mr. Christie need all the support that they can get from Jamaicans. However, I am certain that those who are the beneficiaries of corruption will not want to see the rise of the Mr. Christies in Jamaican society.

mad max
11/14/2010

The day Christie call out a full review of the faulty construction contracts which plague the construction sector im convinced he is against corruption..all these cases he yaps about are light weights when it comes to corruption

Authnel Reid
11/14/2010

I also take umbrage with Mr. Golding personalizing the work of the OCG to my Christie. His comment: “This is a dog that not only barks, but he bites...,” I think was his way of subtly sending a message to his supporters that thing cannot go on as before because of the OCG and Mr. Christie. Mr Golding and other public officials could take a page out of Mr. Christie’s book and perform their duties our country would be better off.

Authnel Reid
11/14/2010

. “Golding said the government would amend the Constitution to make the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) a creature under the constitution”. I believe it when it is a reality. All of a sudden the Office Of contractor General (OCG) “is the best thing since slice bread. This is the same ruse politicians use to ward off criticism and shore up lackluster image. And we fall for it every time.
We will forget this in nine days

Nicolas Henry
11/14/2010

PNP or JLP cannot help anyone. In fact politicians only promise hope to hopelesnes. IF I form a party and tell ppl the truth like, stop having kids you cant afford, don't buy things you can't afford, tell you on the campaign trail that I can't help you when you mess up your whole life. would you vote for me? I bet not. We need population control. Modern machinery is doing the work, We cannot put so many ppl to work, It's not possible. I will form "THE PARTY OF TRUTH". How many would vote for me?

Waz Up
11/14/2010

Give the CG teeth soh him can bite left, right and centre. We need to get rid of all u corrupt so-call poli-trick-ters who want to be addressed as honourable. In fact, dem if remove dat title (honourable), becauz it damn hard to find one who live up to dat standard, even if yu using a micro-scope.

Winston G
11/14/2010

I agree with Mr. Golding

Clara Brooks
11/14/2010

Yea Yea, as usual this kind of chat is nothing but chat. If you cannot beat him join him. Or play along until the CG messes up big time and then fire him. It will be a dumb move to put the contractor general within the constitution because this office was made specifically to be where it is due to "Constitution interferance" then he will be controlled by the PM and then be fired and replaced by a JLP/PNP lackey. Golding is at it again, cannot be trusted. Its a trap, Nuetral Justice post says all

Pancho Morris
11/14/2010

The fact that Christie is hated my some on both sides is what tells me he is not partial and Jamaica needs someone like him. He does not play favorite. We need more Christies.

anthony foster
11/14/2010

It is strange that when the JLP want to confess their sins they always include the PNP. First it was the mayor who said both parties were guilty of putting people on river banks to secure votes. Now it is the PM who is saying that elements in both the PNP and the JLP hate the contractor general.
I wonder when they pray if they tell the Father that it is not only they who are guilty but their neighbors.
The PM has either to be the Jackdaw of Rheims or the cardinal. He can't be both.

Chuck Emanuel
11/14/2010

The bottom line is that many things have been said by Mr Golding since the days with the NDM, and Promised in "Manifestos" since gaining power in the year 2007. The score-card on the other hand in terms of Integrity, Credibility and accomplishments is zero.
If these new pronouncements and sound-bite assertions are intended to rally the disciples and others who previously has been lied to, it still fell short. Action and deeds are what counts and not merely more campaign speeches with promises.

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He not only barks, he bites! - Golding backs Greg Christie