THE Office of the Contractor General, which had its budget increased from $98.8 million in 2006/7 to $147.6 million in 2007/8, is also to have its staff complement increased from 46 to 64, according to Finance Minister Omar Davies.

At the same time, the allocation for the purchasing of material jumped from $1.4 million to $23.6 million.

Davies was responding to questions from Opposition Spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw at yesterday’s meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee.

Davies also told the meeting that the “significant increase in terms of purchase of equipment is related to the fact that with the increased number of staff members the Office of the Contractor General will be moving location”.

According to the finance minister, it was a “one-off provision of resources to build out the new office space”.

Davies said, too, that the increase in the staffing levels of the office would be “across the board”, adding that a special investigative unit comprising three additional investigators would be added.

“There are presently 12 investigators, but a special investigating unit with three professional staff members is being created,” the finance minister said. He said that while the unit would carry out special investigations, the remaining 12 would continue their monitoring role.

He, however, pointed out that due to the fact that the office would not be relocated until the third quarter of the fiscal year, the additional staff would not be hired until then as the space at present was inadequate.

In the meantime, Contractor General Greg Christie, while welcoming the additional allocation to his office, said he was “not totally satisfied” with the level of compliance by government agencies.

According to Christie, a rough estimate of compliance presently would be about 50 per cent. As to whether he considered the increased level of staffing would be adequate to fully discharge the duties of the office, Christie said it would greatly enhance his ability to carry out his task.

The government last Thursday tabled a $380-billion budget for 2007/2008, an increase of just $8 billion over last year’s total expenditure.

The committee will continue the revision of the budget today.