The contractor-general yesterday raised alarm over remarks by a top state board chairman, saying his remarks questioned the logic and legitimacy of putting certain government projects to tender and were “serious in their import”.

Greg Christie, the contractor-general, said given the tenure of the remarks made by Dennis Morrison, who chairs the state-run Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), “the public interest demands that I should publicly respond in an effort to clarify the situation”.

In slapping Morrison on the wrist for comments he made in his regular column in yesterday’s Observer newspaper, Christie reminded public officers that when they awarded Government contracts, “they are spending the taxpayers’ money. not their own”.

“The bottom line is that public officers must follow the prescribed procurement rules. They must do so irrespective of whether they like them or not. If they do not comply, they should be held accountable,” Christie declared in a letter to the newspaper.

Morrison fired the first salvo when he took the contractor-general to task for implying “impropriety in the contracting of services” that were provided by companies associated with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and Gorstew, two of the partners in the controversial Whitehouse Hotel project.

“The strident charges made by the contractor-general about compelling evidence of a conflict of interest, absence of transparency, and the like, are exaggerated. In fact, some of those charges are misplaced,” said Morrison, who was commenting on the Whitehouse issue in a second consecutive column.

Morrison disagreed with the tone of Christie’s report to Parliament and suggested that there were circumstances in which going to public tender, once the government took over a project, would have been unnecessary, unless it was thought that the fees charged were exorbitant or that there was non-performance.

But hitting back, Christie reiterated that he had raised the issue of the open defiance often exhibited by certain public officials “who are aware of the (government’s procurement) procedures but who feel that they can set them aside whenever they like”.

“Mr Dennis Morrison, who is the chairman of two major Public Bodies – the Airports Authority and the Jamaica Tourist Board – and who otherwise holds significant and high public office, has made certain statements in his August 2, 2006 contribution as a columnist to one of our country’s daily newspapers.

“His remarks, which relate in part to the public sector procurement process, are so serious in their import that I believe that the public interest demands that I should publicly respond in an effort to clarify the situation,” Christie wrote in his letter.

He accused Morrison of openly questioning “the legitimacy and logic of putting to tender, certain Government contract awards which were related to the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel Project”.

Sandals Whitehouse, ‘Butch’ Stewart’s dream of a major hotel that would be the catalyst for tourism development on Jamaica’s south coast, became mired in controversy after Sandals complained that the developers failed to deliver the property completed and fully functioning when the hotel opened in February last year.

Sandals, which manages the hotel, said it was forced to cut rates and refund hundreds of guests. The company also said the issue damaged its reputation. The hotel chain is suing to recover its losses.

Christie’s report on the project also pointed to massive overruns in cost on the project and accused the UDC of deliberately concealing information from his investigators.

In his letter to the Observer yesterday, Christie also outlined the applicable government procurement procedures, concluding that: “As senior public officers such as Mr Morrison should know, the reasons for having these rules and procedures are quite simple and rudimentary. One is that public bodies and public officers, when they award government contracts, are spending the taxpayers’ money. not their own.

“Another is to ensure that there is absolutely no place in the public sector procurement process for the subjective opinions or discretion of public officers, especially those who may be inclined to usurp the prescribed and mandatory contract award and tender process by summarily deeming it to be “irrelevant” or “unnecessary” whenever it suits them to do so.

“For what is at risk is not only the irretrievable loss of the trust that the public has reposed in its servants, but also the very principles and ideals upon which the Jamaica public sector procurement process is founded – namely, competition, independent scrutiny, transparency, fairness, impartiality, probity and ensuring that the taxpayer gets value for his/her money.”

See full text of the contractor-general’s letter in tomorrow’s Observer.