Dear Editor,

I refer to the article entitled ‘Do we have the will to fix the energy problem?’ written by Mark Wignall and published in your Sunday Observer of 13th October.

The article contained several factual errors and derogatory inferences which require immediate correction.

Mr Chris Bicknell and myself did not sit on the GOJ LNG Steering Committee at the same time. I had resigned some time prior to his appointment under a successor government chairman.

To compound the poisonous and unprofessional effort to construct a conspiracy where none exists, your columnist places the PSOJ, which I have the privilege to lead, as the only private sector organisation to challenge the efficacy and fairness of the bid process. In fact, the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, and several other national private sector and civil society organisations, as well as the Office of the Contractor General, have challenged the bid process and, by extension, directly or indirectly, the bidders.

Further, your columnist conveniently omits to mention that, on the prior occasion, the Exmar bid was deemed defective by no less than six highly qualified and experienced lawyers, including the solicitor general and the contractor general, and by unanimous decision of a 12-person steering committee comprised of highly prominent public servants and private sector leaders.

The wrongs committed by this article have only served to heighten the concerns of myself and my colleague private sector leaders, and I use this medium to restate our call for the prime minister to instruct a halt in any further steps and immediately place a joint private-public committee in an oversight role for this critical national project so that we all may have some faith that one day we will get lower electricity bills.

Members of the media who use their ability to influence public opinion and who distort the facts in order to promote the interests of an unscrupulous and sinister agenda are as wrong as those persons who avoid transparent transactions in order to gain an unfair advantage in public bids.

Perhaps the article should be re-titled ‘Do we have the will to speak the truth?’

Chris Zacca

President, PSOJ