OPPOSITION spokesman on finance and the public service, Audley Shaw, has accused the government of negligence and dereliction of duty in the recent acquisition of 25 fire trucks from Rosenbauer NA.

“The minister of finance and the prime minister, who was the responsible minister at the time of the acquisition of these defective fire trucks, must be held accountable for this fiasco at the Jamaica Fire Brigade,” Shaw told the House of Representatives Tuesday in his budget debate contribution.

Rosenbauer was awarded a US$9.2-million (J$550 million) contract for the provision of 33 fire trucks for the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) last year. However, when the prime minister made the announcement of Rosenbauer being selected as the supplier in the House of Representatives last July, a number of Opposition MPs, including Shahine Robinson, Karl Samuda and Andrew Gallimore, raised concerns about the source.

Twenty trucks were bought from Rosenbauer. However, after one of the trucks skidded off the Newton main road, St Elizabeth, an investigation was ordered which showed faulty construction of the trucks.

Shaw said Tuesday that, prior to the decision to acquire the trucks from Rosenbauer NA, the French government had offered the Ministry of Finance favourable financing for the acquisition of Renault fire trucks.

Shaw said the Renault trucks “remain the most reliable trucks” used by the JFB.

He said that the cabinet had taken a decision to sole-source the units from Renault, and this was actually communicated to their local agent by the minister of finance.

But he said that despite the attractive offer, and after many months of delay, the Government reversed the decision and decided to invite tenders.

He said that only two companies tendered – Renault and Rosenbauer – but Renault was disqualified leaving Rosenbauer as the sole bidder.

“It was clear from the beginning that somebody somewhere had an axe to grind,” Shaw said.

“Somebody had it in for Renault and wanted Rosenbauer at all costs. Who colt the game and why?” he asked.

He said that there were already grounds to question the Rosenbauer purchase, because internal documents at the Fire Brigade had revealed problems with Rosenbauer’s fire trucks supplied from Austria.

“In a comparison with the Renault trucks, the Renault trucks came out way ahead,” he stated.

Shaw said that in a report, submitted to the Fire Department in 1998, comparing the two brands, the relevant technical officer found multiple defects in Rosenbauer’s trucks and found only one defect in Renault’s. Among the problems identified with the Rosenbauer trucks, he said, were gear box, fuel systems and braking systems and water tank problems.

He quoted the report as saying, “based upon the performance of these two types of fire units (Renault and Rosenbauer) over the years and the availability of spares for Renault, I must recommend that the Brigade purchase Renault fire units, with a modification to the braking system…”

He accused Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller of misinforming opposition spokesperson on local government, Shahine Robinson, in answers to the questions in the House of Representatives last July.

“She advised, in this House, the opposition spokesperson on local government to the contrary,” Shaw said, in reference to answers the prime minister gave to questions about the technical specifications which the JFB provided.

According to him, the prime minister told Robinson then that “the Jamaica Fire Brigade confirmed that there was no clear differentiation between the overall performance of the two types of vehicles.”

“The prime minister and finance minister cannot remain quiet and wash their hands of this sordid affair. It was their fiduciary duty to ensure that the best interest of the firemen and people of Jamaica were being protected in the acquisition of the safest and most reliable equipment,” he said.

“I hold them both accountable in this matter. It was their responsibility for, and behalf of, the people of Jamaica, to ensure that the necessary due diligence was carried out to ensure that the most reliable equipment was acquired with taxpayers’ money,” Shaw added.

He suggested that there be no further acquisition of fire trucks from Rosenbauer and that Renault should, immediately, be re-engaged even on a sole-source basis if necessary, with the approval of the National Contracts Committee.