THE government, after a month-long delay, yesterday announced the appointment of five new members to serve on the National Contracts Commission (NCC) for a seven-year term.

The appointments, however, came a day after Contractor-General Greg Christie, in responding to a story first carried by the Observer last week, complained about the failure of the administration to appoint new commissioners, almost a month after the seven-year term of the previous commission had expired.

The new commissioners named yesterday are Robert Martin, Jean Fairclough, Milton Hodelin, Karl Martin and Donald Moore. Both Robert Martin and Karl Martin previously served on the NCC.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Office of the Contractor-General, the five instruments of appointment, dated June 13, were executed by Deputy Governor-General Canon Weevil Gordon.

Contractor-General Greg Christie will present the instruments of appointment on behalf of Governor -General Prof Kenneth Hall, who is abroad.

The new appointments now bring to six, the members of the new panel of the eight-member NCC who have so far been appointed. Former financial secretary Shirley Tyndall was last month appointed as chairman of the commission.

Two more members are still to be named – one to be appointed from a group of five nominated by the Construction Industry Council and the other from a panel of five nominated by the Professional Societies Association of Jamaica.

Christie complained Monday that the work of the NCC, which includes the review and endorsement of government contracts above $4 million and the registration of new contractors and the annual re-registration of previously certified contractors, was being hampered by the non-appointment of new commission members.

The delay in the appointment of the panel, he said, had resulted in a backlog of contracts to be awarded and would subsequently result in negative implications for the public purse in the near future, as there had been a virtual shutdown of the critical and important work of the commission.

Christie said, too, that numerous local contractors were fearful that they would miss tender deadlines and thereby become disenfranchised from bidding on multi-million dollar government contracts.

He said more than 70 goods, services and works contractors were awaiting registration or re-registration by the NCC.

The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party had also criticised the government for the delay.

“It is an excusable and a gross dereliction of duty for the government to cause this paralysis of a critical oversight body that is set up to ensure integrity and transparency in the award of government contracts,” said the party’s finance spokesman Audley Shaw.

Information Minister Colin Campbell said, however, that it was premature to determine the effect of the delay on costs.

“With respect to pending matters before the NCC, mechanisms are being put in place to address these issues promptly,” Campbell said in a statement yesterday, shortly before the names of the new NCC members were released.