OCG knocks ministry's response to contract probe

Thursday, September 16, 2010

THE Office of the Contractor General (OCG) says the response of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) to its report on the contractual arrangements between the ministry and former banker Aubyn Hill is tantamount to an admission to breaking the law.

According to the OCG, the ministry's statement — which rejected the OCG's suggestion that the minister, permanent secretary and Hill had contrived to deliberately deceive him, and dismissed suggestions that Hill's engagement was a conflict of interest — has called into question "grave and fundamental issues of governance, the rule of law, and accountability in the administration of the public sector".

In a release yesterday, the OCG said it was particularly alarmed at a statement by the ministry that it would have been "illogical" to seek approval of Hill's contract from "the lower levels of approval in the procurement system", "having obtained a Cabinet approval to contract Mr Hill".

"...The statement of the MAF can only be construed as an open admission and declaration by the MAF's minister and its permanent secretary that they have, in point of fact, broken the law in the instant matter and will do so again if they should deem that compliance with the duly promulgated laws of Jamaica, or submission to the jurisdiction of the NCC (National Contracts Commission), is illogical," the OCG said.

In the 148-page report, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, Contractor General Greg Christie described as highly questionable the arrangements between Hill and the ministry and recommended that he (Hill) be barred from serving on the board of directors of any public body in the future.

The probe followed reports that Hill's company, Corporate Strategies Limited, had been paid $27 million for consultancy services.

The OCG also contended that Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Dr Christopher Tufton and Permanent Secretary Donovan Stanberry had supplied it with conflicting statements regarding the arrangements.

"As is now publicly known, both the MAF's Contracts Committee and the National Contracts Commission, which is an independent statutory commission, were unlawfully bypassed by the MAF in its award of the subject consultancy contracts to Mr Hill," the OCG said.

As a result, the agency cautioned members of the public concerning the agriculture ministry's statements, which it said are, "for the most part, misleading, and are incapable of being credibly substantiated".

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OCG knocks ministry's response to contract probe