Contractor-General to probe award of bridge building contracts

Saturday, November 21, 2009 5:55 PM

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OCG probe to determine Hibbert, Gibson's roles in contract awards

Thursday, January 08, 2009

HIBBERT... had his home searched by local cops and sleuths from the British Serious Fraud Office

THE Office of the Contractor General (OCG) yesterday said it will investigate allegations of corruption and irregularity in the awarding of certain Government bridge building contracts to a British firm, and whether member of parliament Joseph Hibbert and businessman Deryck A Gibson were involved.

The OCG, in a statement to the media, said the decision to conduct the formal probe was taken on the grounds of "certain oral representations made to the OCG by representatives of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Serious Fraud Office of the United Kingdom and the British High Commission, in a meeting which was convened at the Office of the Contractor General at the request of the JCF on November 26, 2008".

CHRISTIE... will investigate allegations of corruption

In addition, the OCG said the "receipt of copies of certain documents which were formally conveyed by the JCF to the contractor-general under cover of a letter dated December 30, 2008 signed by Mr Leslie Green, the assistant commissioner of police having responsibility for Serious and Organised Crimes", also prompted the investigation.

That letter, the OCG said, was received on January 6, 2009.
Last month, the homes of Hibbert, who is also the junior minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works; and Gibson were searched by local cops and sleuths from the British Serious Fraud Office.

The two are being investigated in connection with a case against the United Kingdom-based bridge building company, Mabey and Johnson, which is said to have received contracts during Hibbert's tenure as chief technical director in the transport and works ministry.

Yesterday, the OCG said that in light of the serious nature and gravity of the documentation it has received from the JCF, "we believe that this is a matter which warrants a formal investigation by the OCG".

The OCG said its investigation will be directed primarily at determining, among other things, the precise role, if any, played by Hibbert and Gibson, "in the facilitation, procurement, award, implementation, execution and/or variation of the referenced contracts and the merits of the allegations which have been made that certain specified, questionable payments, totalling several million United States dollars in value, were made or transferred by Mabey and Johnson to certain specified persons and/or into certain bank accounts, in relation to the said contracts".

ACP Green has, in the meantime, advised Contractor-General Greg Christie that he will, "await the outcome of the OCG's investigations and any recommendations and/or directions made by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), before taking any further action, as the allegations clearly relate to Government contracts".

When concluded, copies of the report of the investigation will be passed on to the Jamaican Parliament and other appropriate Government officials.

Yesterday, calls to Hibbert's cellphone went unanswered. Efforts to reach attorney-at-law Ernest Smith, who is one of the lawyers representing Hibbert, were also unsuccessful.
In December, Hibbert's lawyers had pleaded for more time when presented with "certain undisclosed documents by officers of the British Serious Fraud Office".

Yesterday, ACP Green would not confirm whether those same "undisclosed documents" were the ones referred to by the contractor-general.

"I am not going to go into the details, the contractor-general issued a statement and all we are doing is confirming that we have passed information to the contractor-general so we will await that outcome," Green told the Observer.

He, however, said the police were still, "waiting to confirm a date and time with Mr Hibbert" for the interview which was put off in December.

Also yesterday, the Opposition People's National Party renewed its call for Prime Minister Bruce Golding to relieve Hibbert of his ministerial responsibilities.

"Given this new information, it is imperative that the prime minister acts now to remove Mr Hibbert from the ministry, especially bearing in mind his portfolio assignment," said Opposition spokesman on transport & works, Robert Pickersgill. "While a determination of Mr Hibbert's guilt or innocence is ultimately the responsibility of the courts, he should be relieved of his ministerial responsibilities to remove any appearance or perception of interference."

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