THE Contractor-General’s reports on investigations into procurement practices at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the Petroleum Company of Jamaica (Petcom) are expected to be tabled in the House of Representatives next Tuesday.

Gordon House sources confirmed that with Contractor General Greg Christie’s decision to send copies to both the Speaker of the House Michael Peart, and the President of the Senate Syringa Marshall-Burnett, the reports should be tabled on Tuesday.

Christie told the media last week that he sent copies to Peart and Marshall-Burnett “in light of the gravity of some of our findings and our consequential recommendations, and in the public interest”.

Section 28(3) of the Contractor General’s Act requires the speaker and the president to have the reports laid on the tables of both Houses of Parliament “as soon as possible”.

The investigations into the procurement practices at PETCOM were triggered by a Jamaica Observer story last September that the Cabinet, in an apparent bid to avoid a conflict of interest scandal involving a former candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP), Barbara Clarke, decided that chairpersons of public sector boards should not benefit from contracts awarded by those boards.

This was revealed in the House of Representatives by Phillip Paulwell, the Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, in response to questions raised by the Opposition’s spokesman on Energy, Clive Mullings, about contracts awarded to a company in which Clarke, the chairman of Petcom Limited, has interests.

Paulwell added that the decision was taken about a month prior to his revelation, but denied that it was triggered by the fact that a conflict of interest was recognised in the case of Clarke. He said that the Cabinet took the decision “out of an abundance of caution”.

Clarke, appointed chairman of the Petcom board in March 2005, has interests in Elegant Traders Limited, a company which Paulwell admitted had contracts from 2003 and up to last year with Petcom, including the training of gas pump attendants and the provision of promotional material.

Clarke was the losing PNP candidate in North Central St Andrew against the Jamaica Labour Party’s Karl Samuda in 2002.

Paulwell admitted that, prior to Clark’s appointment as Petcom chairman on March 1, 2005, Elegant Traders Limited was selected to train the pump attendants. He said that this was the last contract awarded to Elegant Traders. However, Elegant Traders also supplies promotional items to Petcom, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) and Petrojam Limited.

Paulwell said the contracts for promotional materials awarded to Elegant Traders were not subject to competitive tender.

“A conflict of interest does not occur where there is proper disclosure by a director of a company and the director excuses himself from any proceedings related to his business interests,” he added.

The investigation into the NSWMA’s procurement policies followed the OCG’s report in 2005 about similar practices at the Authority. The latest investigations, which began last May, were conducted into allegations last year that contracts, in excess of $40 million in value, had been awarded by the NSWMA without the approval of its board of directors.